With the issue of Halogen bulbs being discontinued its going to be a problem eventually, so when do you bite the bullet and change them all, or gradually change one room string of lights at a time, but eventually it will have to be done.
Help appreciated with switching to LED downlights!
- Thread starter Deadeye
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Jester129
Established Member
The sooner you do it the quicker you will start saving a fortune in running costs! Simples!
I changed all mine about two years ago and am saving around £8 a month in electric. When you look back it is not just halogen bulbs but all the indcandescent ones as well, 60 watts here with some 100 watt ones there and a string of 50 watt halogen in another room which all adds up and then the outdoor halogens at 500 watt each.
RogerS
Established Member
I reckon your house must be like Blackpool Illuminations ! It's very easy to turn off the lights you don't need.
Seriously LED downlighters are a PITA. You refurb a kitchen and install a load of LED downlighters...15 year guarantee...yeah, right. One goes pop...you claim for a replacement only to be told they are no longer in production. So now you have a different looking LED downlighter and with a slightly different colour temperature... progress ? Don't think so.
While I agree that cheaper LED downlighters can be unreliable and that the initial outlay for decent LED bulbs is higher than halogen, as an example, our kitchen has 20 downlighters, all fed from a single switch. It's a large kitchen diner and, being the hub of the home, during the winter months it's quite common for the lights to be on for 2, perhaps 3 hours a day, even with care.
With these figures, halogen would have cost us close to £28 per month on our current tariff while LED costs us in the region of £2.80. So Roy's numbers are not in the slightest unreasonable.
Luckily, the previous owner replaced ours for LED's before we bought the house. He did quite a few in other rooms too. I ensured that I changed the rest pretty soon in.
Our houses don't need to look like Blackpool illuninations. Old period properties with thick walls and small windows, are naturally dark in low light conditions and interior lighting is necessary - even used with care.
If nothing else, the energy crisis has made many of us carefully consider power usage and has forced a change of attitude. Even my wife is now looking at the smart meter and considering when to run appliances so that our solar PV offsets the cost.
I swapped mine out and had the minimum load problem with the transformer. As a quick fix I left one halogen bulb in out of the six. It’s been three years I really must get around to swapping out to GU10.
Come to think of it that one halogen is the only non led bulb in the house (except the cooker and microwave bulbs)
Come to think of it that one halogen is the only non led bulb in the house (except the cooker and microwave bulbs)
I know this will be frowned upon by many electricians, but I managed to convert all of my SES downlights too GU10, the screw fixings are exactly the same distance apart, fit perfectly, did have Halogens, but due to very low ceilings they used to burn the top of my head, follicle challenged and old building. Don't know how much I am saving but the 40watt SES bulbs used to go with regular monotony, was bad enough I used to buy them in 25's from TLC.
Now if I can only train my OH to close the back door when she goes to the dustbins.
Now if I can only train my OH to close the back door when she goes to the dustbins.
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