LED bulbs for home use

[Welsh_kai_boy]

I found that Home Bargains have a good range of LED bulbs from a reputable manufacturer.

[io1901]

Just bought a Philips bayonet fitting "ordinary" LED light bulb -  seems quite good and would be suitable  in places where the bulb is visible.

[Cornish_Lad]

I've recently started switching out the conventional bulbs and fittings in my house to GU10 variants.  Best GU10 bulbs so far (for me) have been the Aurora 4w 4000k ones - they are not too bright, but give a decent amount of white light.  Compared to the remaining old style bulbs in the house, these are superb.

 

As for the bathroom, I recently bought a 7w daylight LED unit from (dare I say it) eBay.  Under a tenner, and it's superb. Again, would recommend that to anyone considering LEDs.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[fabdavrav]

I've recently started switching out the conventional bulbs and fittings in my house to GU10 variants.  Best GU10 bulbs so far (for me) have been the Aurora 4w 4000k ones - they are not too bright, but give a decent amount of white light.  Compared to the remaining old style bulbs in the house, these are superb.

 

As for the bathroom, I recently bought a 7w daylight LED unit from (dare I say it) eBay.  Under a tenner, and it's superb. Again, would recommend that to anyone considering LEDs.

 

 

So you have a "daylight" LED bulb in the bathroom? So that's at least 5600K with a huge amount of blue light given off which will wake you up. Not good if you have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!

 

I do wish people would realise the health implications of using LEDs with loads of blue rich light as it's a long term health problem which not only sods up our sleep patters, our hormone production & can cause macular degeneration!.

 

http://www.reviewofoptometry.com/continuing_education/tabviewtest/lessonid/109744/

 

fit lower K temp LED bulbs say 2700-3000K max, still way brighter than incandescent bulbs & CFLs

Edited 30 March, 2016 by fabdavrav

[Cornish_Lad]

So you have a "daylight" LED bulb in the bathroom? So that's at least 5600K with a huge amount of blue light given off which will wake you up. Not good if you have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!

 

I do wish people would realise the health implications of using LEDs with loads of blue rich light as it's a long term health problem which not only sods up our sleep patters, our hormone production & can cause macular degeneration!.

 

http://www.reviewofoptometry.com/continuing_education/tabviewtest/lessonid/109744/

 

fit lower K temp LED bulbs say 2700-3000K max, still way brighter than incandescent bulbs & CFLs

 

Haven't got to the stage where I'm using the bathroom in the middle of the night yet .. if I do, then I don't put the light on.

 

From my point of view, the daylight LED unit is 10 times better than what was there previously.  I can now see to shave, whereas you couldn't before. 

[fabdavrav]

 

From my point of view, the daylight LED unit is 10 times better than what was there previously.  I can now see to shave, whereas you couldn't before. 

 

That's all because the higher the colour temp (& whiter) the "brighter" the light our eye thinks it is & reacts to it by closing the pupil (as per what our eyes do in sunlight with loads of blue light). So actually that light is not technically "brighter"., if you placed a light meter under it & under the previous one you could find it the same or dimmer in lux levels, to get "brighter" technically you need more lux.

 

I have various 2700k Osram & Phillips LEDs inside & outside & mine are on old high ceilings & very bright in terms of lux levels, much more lux than the previous bulbs & still good colour rendering (ra index) & a "warm" white colour which is less harsh & way less blue light, & does not cause the pupil to close & react in the same way as usually only 16% blue light from 3000K LED compared to 33% blue from a 4000K & even more blue light from a daylight bulb!!!

[Updown789]

That's all because the higher the colour temp (& whiter) the "brighter" the light our eye thinks it is & reacts to it by closing the pupil (as per what our eyes do in sunlight with loads of blue light). So actually that light is not technically "brighter"., if you placed a light meter under it & under the previous one you could find it the same or dimmer in lux levels, to get "brighter" technically you need more lux.

I have various 2700k Osram & Phillips LEDs inside & outside & mine are on old high ceilings & very bright in terms of lux levels, much more lux than the previous bulbs & still good colour rendering (ra index) & a "warm" white colour which is less harsh & way less blue light, & does not cause the pupil to close & react in the same way as usually only 16% blue light from 3000K LED compared to 33% blue from a 4000K & even more blue light from a daylight bulb!!!

Its personal preference, he prefers cooler white in his bathroom so hes happy, end of.

[Phil-E]

We're about to re-do our downstairs bathroom and I'm having grand ideas of a star-light ceiling edged with LED light strips (colour changing of course).

 

Something along these lines:

 

 

Do I need special bathroom strips? I know for the main lighting (thinking wall lights) I need special bathroom light fittings but does the same apply to low voltage stuff?

[cheezemonkhai]

Look up the zones and apply the rules, although personally in the bathrooms I make sure everything is sealed appropriately as I'd rather be too well sealed, than not well enough.

[Phil-E]

Of course. I forgot about the "zones" rules.

 

Think I have a plan now. You can get waterproof 12v LED strips then I'll get an LED driver I've found on Amazon that actually links up with my Hue system.

 

You can then buy the star-light ceiling kits on ebay then I've stick a couple of LED spotlights in for the main lighting rather than wall lights.

 

I worked out the other day that I can now run all the kitchen and dining room lights and lamp for the same wattage as one of the old 50w GU10 bulbs! It's crazy the power difference and they actually give off a nicer light I think.

 

Think I'm addicted to ambient LED lighting. Hue bulbs, set of ikea "Dioder" strips under the kitchen cupboards, colour changing LED strips under the breakfast bar, white LED spots in the step leading into the conservatory, LED decking lights, LED fairy lights round the pagoda and a Philips living colours mini.

 

But when the house is all lit up it looks so pretty! :clap: 

Edited 6 April, 2016 by Phil-E

[john999boy]

But when the house is all lit up it looks so pretty! :clap: 

 

This account appears to have been hacked by your eco friendly better half Phil - we're not used to seeing gooey stuff!

[VWD]

If anyone's interested, Homebase are advertising GU10 ,40 lamps at £3 for 6.

[Updown789]

Of course. I forgot about the "zones" rules.

Think I have a plan now. You can get waterproof 12v LED strips then I'll get an LED driver I've found on Amazon that actually links up with my Hue system.

You can then buy the star-light ceiling kits on ebay then I've stick a couple of LED spotlights in for the main lighting rather than wall lights.

I worked out the other day that I can now run all the kitchen and dining room lights and lamp for the same wattage as one of the old 50w GU10 bulbs! It's crazy the power difference and they actually give off a nicer light I think.

Think I'm addicted to ambient LED lighting. Hue bulbs, set of ikea "Dioder" strips under the kitchen cupboards, colour changing LED strips under the breakfast bar, white LED spots in the step leading into the conservatory, LED decking lights, LED fairy lights round the pagoda and a Philips living colours mini.

But when the house is all lit up it looks so pretty! :clap:

How high is your bathroom ceiling? If its over 2.25m you will be outside the zone, but less than that you will be fine using selv (seperated extra low voltage) lighting such as those leds.

[muddyboots]

Bit late to this thread...but I've recently replaced all 50+ halogen downlights (and fittings!) in our house with LEDs.

After reading plenty of reviews, I got them all from LEDhut - and am very impressed.

I've mostly used their 2700k bulbs, and they are a perfect replacement for halogens - lovely warm colour. I have a couple of fittings that wash down an exposed brick wall; to compare, I changed one of the fittings to LED and honestly you could not tell the difference between the LED and halogen - brightness, beam pattern and colour were spot on.

Have used a mixture of dimmable and non-dimmable versions.

LEDhut often have 20-25% discount codes around too.

[2SkodaFamily]

I've just had my whole house - 30+ bulbs - upgraded to LEDs for free and they were even installed for me.

[nokiauk]

Local energy/council grant?

[2SkodaFamily]

no, a utility supplier who upgrades customers' bulbs for free. And they're guaranteed for life as long as you remain with them, so you never have to buy another bulb.

[Macdemon]

Who is your supplier then??

 

I would rather buy my own bulbs and have cheaper energy costs :p 

[nokiauk]

Utility Warehouse perhaps?

[2SkodaFamily]

Utility Warehouse perhaps?

yes, that's right. PM me if you want more details.