With new offerings and cheaper solutions surrounding lighting, many of us have taken to quick fixes. So what is? You may have heard that LED is just better for the environment. With all that in mind, to be able to get the best of your LED globes you need to follow the right replacement process. Simply installing your LED bulb into an old downlight is not enough. There are other things that come into play. Consider this — was your old halogen transformer originally built for an LED lighting fixture?
Failing to take this into consideration when upgrading your downlights with LED globes only minimizes the use you will get out of your new lights. One of the most significant issues is that LED globes require a lower amount of power to run. Traditional halogen globes require a much higher amount of power. By installing only LED bulbs your lights will most likely burn out within a period of six to eight months due to having the wrong transformer. Most people simply switch from one bulb to the other, without paying much attention to the actual fitting.
However, if you want to get the most out of your downlight upgrade, getting a new LED downlight rather than just switching the globe, is absolutely essential. Secondly, since your entire system caters to halogen bulbs, it is likely that your new LED globes are not compatible with your dimmer.
The solution is quite simple. New LED downlights come fitted with a transformer on the lighting fixture to ensure you get the most out of your new lights! Looking to replace your halogens with LED downlights? Hire a professional to change your entire system and get the most out of your investment.
Upgrading your home with residential LED downlights can drastically change the overall look and feel of your home. I have dimmable lights in my kitchen and living room and they work perfectly. Just make sure, when you buy bulbs, they have the dimmable logo on the box or that it states they are 'dimmable'.
Poor quality, cheap bulbs don't last long. My experience is that if you buy quality they do last. Some of my LED bulbs are more than 5 years old and still going strong.
If your bulbs are blowing on a regular basis there may be something else wrong - loose connections in lamp holders, faulty connections to light switches, over-heating a bulb in a small confined space and so on. If this happens elsewhere in your home it could be a general issue; if it is in just one room, a local one. In either case it might be worth contacting an electrician to investigate it for you. While there are energy efficiency advantages to 'voltage optimisation' this lowers the voltage in your house to about v, which nearly all appliances now work on and thus saves money , I suggest you find out what's causing the problem, as these systems cost a fair amount and may not solve your issue.
They are not quite as cheap as low energy bulbs yet but they are getting there. When I think about how much a bulb costs, it is also worth thinking about the running cost. The 'payback' time calculation is important.
It might be tempting to buy the cheap non energy-efficient bulbs, but in the long term you will be better off. You can buy them in many places now - all DIY stores, lighting shops and online.
Have a look at my guide at the end to making the right choices for you. There is nothing wrong at all with using modern low-energy bulbs the new ones come on instantly too if that is what our budgets lends itself to. Ok, first things first: if you want a warm light you need to choose something with a Kelvin count of or less. Any higher than this and it will be a colder light.
Next, choose the light output you want. As a general rule of thumb most people know that a w bulb is bright and suitable for a main light, that a 60w bulb is suitable in a lamp, and 25w bulb works where we want soft and gentle light.
This one, from Ikea again just a personal suggestion might suit your purposes. If not, armed with the information above, you should be able to get what you need.
Incidentally, if your fitting is a bayonet fitting, you can easily buy converters on places like eBay that allow you to use a screw fitting in your bayonet lampholder. In this case you would need a B22 to a E27 converter. Is it possible to replace GU3 halogen bulbs the sort with two thin pins at the back with LED lights, without ripping out the entire system?
I have asked this question before, and was told no, but technology is changing all the time. Yes, it is possible. The GU tells us that the base has a bi-pin cap, meaning that it has two pins and the number, the distance between the pins - in your case 3mm.
So it is simply a matter of finding an LED replacement bulb that meets that specification. I had a quick look online and it is possible to source them as more and more LED bulbs are now being introduced.
Remember, these are generally low voltage bulbs so you will need to ensure that they are compatible with your system. See my other answers and guide below about replacing low voltage lighting. When you are replacing very specific bulbs, see you if you can get an 'exact match' or 'perfect fit' labeled bulb so that you know they will fit into the existing aperture. What's on? It sounds obvious, but the best place to start is to work out which lights are on the most, and replace them first.
In this way, you will maximise your saving. How much light? Light is measured in lumens, but this is too complicated to work out every time you buy a bulb.
So as rough guide, if you want the equivalent of an 'old school' w light bulb, go for 10w, 60w — 6w, 40w — 4w. Which colour? Light temperature colour is measured in Kelvin K.
The lower the number, the warmer the light. Because I like a warm light, K is my preference — it's like the light from an old-fashioned bulb. A good way to tell if you need to change the transformer is to check if the halogens have pins or pegs to connect them to the circuit. LEDs draw such little power that they never pull the minimum wattage that the transformer is rated for.
Using them in an AC circuit will lead to voltage fluctuations that will cause the bulbs to flicker, buzz, or dim erratically. Contact LEDified for a thorough review of your lighting situation.
We can assess your current lighting demands, determine if you can replace your halogen globes with LEDs straight away or if you need to add an LED driver, and we can even do the installation work for you.
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