# GU10 LEDs where from?



## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

i need to buy around 15 GU10 bulbs, the standard fitting not the longer ones or the like.

I am looking for LED type that run off a 240v supply i.e. no transformer.

They also need to be dimmable (dimmer compatable).

where is the best place to get them?

ive seen they range from £5 upto £20 per bulb and i dont want to pay £300 for 15 GU10's 

all suggestions welcome :thumb:


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Homebase certainly stock GU10 LEDs, but you might find a better deal online if you need that many. The GU10s we use are direct 240v AFAIK, but I've only replaced Halogen ones so far but saw LEDs at Homebase last time I was there.

[edit]

Plenty on ebaY


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

For whatever reason this is still a very expensive technology, if this is for a property short term, don't bother, if you' plan to be there for many years to come then you can budget for those years ahead.

I bought some Haler down lighters, cost me £300 just to light the kitchen, guaranteed for seven years with minimal energy required, the payback kicks in a few years down the line.

Personally I'd avoid the £5 products available, unless as I've stated, it's a short term project. :thumb:


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## OILRS (Oct 26, 2008)

Just a little note the cheaper ones really dont last that long


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

its my house, im gonna be there for the next 10 years or so atleast.

want good leds but dont want to spend a fortune.

ive seen some around the £8 mark, megaman or sylviana.... dont know if these are good or not.

phillips branded ones start at about £12.50 a bulb - thats close on £190 :doublesho


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

Google for suppliers of the Megaman 6W dimmable LEDs providing you are using a leading edge dimmer. I use these (I prefer the 2800k colour temperature) and they have a good output of over 400 lumens, and dim perfectly with my Helvar leading-edge dimmers.

I've previously ordered from Starlec online, but last time I ordered I found them cheaper elsewhere.

They are true fit, meaning they are the same size as the conventional halogen lamp they replace.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

I put these in our kitchen a couple of years back and they have been fine, £60 for a pack of 10 10 X GU10 80 LED CLUSTER LOW ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS WARM WHITE ** HIGH POWER OUTPUT FOR REPLACING 40 - 50W HALOGEN **: Amazon.co.uk: Lighting

Not dimmable though as far as i know.


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## mirra_finish (Nov 14, 2011)

We bought 10 of these NXTGEN series 2 bulbs late last year and they are awesome. The light output is more that the 50W bulb as well. We chose the non-dimmable warm white variety. OK, these are a little exxy, but you will not be disappointed.

http://www.simplyled.co.uk/NxtGen-LED-Bulbs_B2583N.aspx

Just keep thinking "75W vs 750W for 15 bulbs"


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

whats a leading edge dimmer?


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## kempe (Jan 9, 2011)

I brought some ones from wilkinsons LINK They do the job for what I need not the brightest but there good


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

Estoril-5 said:


> whats a leading edge dimmer?


Dimmers work by cutting out part of mains sine wave, leading edge dimmers chop off the front of the wave, leading edge dimmers cut the rear edge of the wave. It is important to make sure that your dimmable LED lamps and dimmers are both compatible as mixing a leading edge dimmable LED lamp and trailing edge dimmer will cause problems - either the lamps will not dimm effectively, it my flicker, or it may eventually be damaged causing premature failure.

I also forgot to mention to check that if your dimmer has a minimum load, and to make sure your LED lamps do not fall below this too.


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

If you are looking for the LED lamp to be roughly equivalent in light output then do check it has a linen output of between 400-500 lumens. There are plenty of cheap LED lamps with lumen outputs less than half of this, which makes them rocky equivalent to a 20w lamp! Generally you should be looking for a 6-7w lamp to be 59w equivalent.

If you can find the data sheet then also check the beam angles quoted, some lamps use lenses over the LEDs to increase the soda of light, but just as many do not which makes for a very tight spot effect, often with an overall beam angle of 20 degrees or less.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

I was looking into the nxt gen bulbs for my house, think I worked out £400 for the whole house to replace all the bulbs and would take just over 600 days to pay it back. The main payback area for me would have been the living room as I have a standing lamp with a halogen strip bulb however I havent replaced it as I wasnt sure on the output of the LED bulb.

As electricity prices increase the payback will become smaller between that and hopefully the bulbs will become cheaper so for the moment I've put it off. I'm currently replacing any existing halogens (mostly 50W already there when we moved in) with 30W halogens


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

My advice is buy on or 2 first which ever you decide, Cool Light was way too bright for me and warm just is perfect. Got them on outside one dusk till dawns so made sense. You dont save much per month running cost (I know ive monitored the usage) but they wont need replacing.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

Just doing some sums (as thats what my brain likes doing)

15 x 5W dimmable NxtGen bulbs at various rates due to bulk buying £187

Currently 30W bulbs
15 bulbs x £0.125/kWh x 5 hours/day x 0.025kW saving per bulb = 798 days payback

Currently 50W bulbs
15 bulbs x £0.125/kWh x 5 hours/day x 0.045kW saving per bulb = 443 days payback

Obviously this is dependent on how long the bulbs are on for and your current electricity price

PS if anyone spots an error feel free to point it out


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## bluenose (Aug 15, 2007)

I've just replace my 50w with these.

http://www.energybulbs.co.uk/produc...U10+LED+-+Warm+White+%2835%B0%29/1080365595?b

Really impressed and pretty much as bright as the 50w halogens. Megaman also do a 6w dimmable.


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

i think im going to go for thr 6w dimmable megamans


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

actually simply led have 10% off when you spend over £100, so i might actually go for the Next Gen II bulbs.


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

quick question guys

Megaman (£10.19) OR Phillips Master (£12.89)?

both have a 5 year guarantee but the megamans are lifed at about 50,000 hrs and the phillips at 25,000 hours.

which ones?


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

Are the lamps directly equivalent?

I'd pay no attention to total lifespan, they are a calculation of mean time before failure and not tested to this lifetime (otherwise they could not be released for sale for years to come).

The Philips dimmable GU10 LEDs I last tested were 35w equivalent and were trailing edge dimming compatible, the Megaman ones are leading edge dimming compatible. So your choice is going to be driven by the dimmer you want to use more than the brand. In use there is little difference between them although I found that the Philips very warm white lamps have a bit if a pink tinge to their light output.


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## JonD (Aug 2, 2010)

Estoril-5 said:


> quick question guys
> 
> Megaman (£10.19) OR Phillips Master (£12.89)?
> 
> ...


Where have you seen Phillips for £12.89?


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

shl-kels957327 said:


> Are the lamps directly equivalent?
> 
> I'd pay no attention to total lifespan, they are a calculation of mean time before failure and not tested to this lifetime (otherwise they could not be released for sale for years to come).
> 
> The Philips dimmable GU10 LEDs I last tested were 35w equivalent and were trailing edge dimming compatible, the Megaman ones are leading edge dimming compatible. So your choice is going to be driven by the dimmer you want to use more than the brand. In use there is little difference between them although I found that the Philips very warm white lamps have a bit if a pink tinge to their light output.


I already have the dimmer switch installed which is controlling the halogen gu10s.

How do I find out what type of dimmer switch I have?


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

Estoril-5 said:


> I already have the dimmer switch installed which is controlling the halogen gu10s.
> 
> How do I find out what type of dimmer switch I have?


Hopefully there is a manufacturer and model on the inside of the switch and you can then check the manufacturers data sheet or tech support. If there is no info then you'd be safer replacing the switch. Megaman have information on their website for the number of lamps that can be run from many popular compatible dimmers.


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

ive just checked and i think i have a regular dimmer.

i have a 4 gang dimmer which controls:
1 gang controls 1 main light (dining room) halogen 150w total
1 gang controls 3 x Gu10s (sitting room) 50w each
1 gang controls 3 x Gu10s (sitting room) 50w each
1 gang controls 3 x Gu10s (sitting room) 50w each

i think each gang is max 250w or a minimum of 40w on my dimmer

even if i have 3 x 6w gu10s on each gang thats only 18w, no where near the 40w minimum.

looks like im going to have to fork out £65 for a varlight v-pro trail edge dimmer that has a minimum of 10w per gang.

bit gutted as i paid about £30 for the dimmer that i have now.

the dimmer i have is this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLEX-SF3...SS-STEEL-CLEARANCE-/350660235138#ht_356wt_892


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

Tesco do their own brand now. £10


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

I've been replacing our GU10 Halogens with these GU LEDs from TLC Direct. They are not the cheapest, but they are the best I've found to date in terms of light colour and brightness.

I've brought cheaper GU LEDs in the past, but I've not been impressed with the light output. Where these ones are great.

They also supply them in warm and neutral white, but I prefer the daylight white.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

Z4-35i said:


> I've been replacing our GU10 Halogens with these GU LEDs from TLC Direct. They are not the cheapest, but they are the best I've found to date in terms of light colour and brightness.
> 
> I've brought cheaper GU LEDs in the past, but I've not been impressed with the light output. Where these ones are great.
> 
> They also supply them in warm and neutral white, but I prefer the daylight white.


They seem expensive for the lumen level. I'd be tempted to look at these also a better beam angle. I guess the colour output of the cool white is a bit less than daylight that you have though.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Will_G said:


> They seem expensive for the lumen level. I'd be tempted to look at these also a better beam angle. I guess the colour output of the cool white is a bit less than daylight that you have though.


Thanks. There's definitely a lot more choice now than a few years ago.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

A local place now has a shop you can look at them which is very handy to see which different types of light etc you want - white, warm white etc - LED HUT


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