UKC

I'm trying to decide what light fittings I want for the kitchen and I'm drawn towards GU10 halogens for their light quality but repelled by the idea of paying for ~250 W of lighting.

Has anyone got any recommendations for GU10 LED replacements?

I bought some 2W versions about 3 or 4 years back and was a bit disappointed by them being not very bright and very white, but these things move on so quickly that they are probably vastly different by now, and a quick look on E-bay suggests they are half the price they were.

I did have a quick search of the forums but only found stuff from 2009 and older.

In reply to gethin_allen: i have GU10 light fittings in both bedroom and Office at home, very good light, bright enough for what i want/need, not to white a light, but not to yellow either. both fittings are B&Q Specials, we also have 3 spots in the built in wardrobe/cupboards in the bedroom with GU10's in them and they are great too, worth having a look in the lighting department and seeing what they have on offer.

In reply to gethin_allen: we have philips warm white gu10 led's in our kitchen. Gives a really nice light

In reply to ebygomm:

These being the most expensive.

I could end up paying more for bulbs than for the fittings. And obviously I'll probably only save a couple of £ a year on them.

In reply to gethin_allen: The saving assuming a couple of hours use per day for us was something like 26 pounds a year (based on 6 bulbs). Cost was £50 ish. So should pay for itself

In reply to gethin_allen:

The Philips ones (there's a single LED 35W equivalent and a four LED 50W equivalent) costing around £10 a pop are the best. Definitely worth paying for decent ones, most of the cheaper ones I've seen are shite, either they flicker, or they produce a very blue light, or both.

If I recall Tesco now sell these ones.

Neil

In reply to gethin_allen:

"These being the most expensive."

Yep. The cheap ones are pretty universally shite. The Philips ones (which I now have throughout my house) produce a light quality pretty much indistinguishable from the real ones, with the added advantage of not having a 3 bar electric fire on your ceiling.

Neil

In reply to gethin_allen:
I've replaced all of my light bulbs - or at least all the non-dimmable lightbulbs that get left on lots - with Auraglow B22s and GU10s, which I've found to be pretty good.

At least for the GU10s in the kitchen, I reckon I'll make it back in a year, not counting the cost of replacing all the halogens which blew at a fantastic rate. It's a no brainer.

In reply to gethin_allen:

I'd warn away from the cheap ones on sale at Homebase too. Bought 5, had to take 2 back straight away (didn't work). Few weeks later and another one's died.

When they're working they're pretty good, but I would like a warmer light. Despite being labelled 2800K they're noticeably cooler (more towards the blue end of the spectrum) than halogens. Has anyone found a close match yet?

In reply to adam:

As mentioned above the Philips warm white ones are almost undistinguishable from real ones. Touch wood I've not had one fail on me yet either.

Neil

In reply to Nutkey:

"not counting the cost of replacing all the halogens which blew at a fantastic rate"

Long wondered why people have such an issue with these - I had the fittings in for a good year and a half before I swapped for LEDs, and not a single one blew.

I wonder if it's because mine are all the open-to-the-air 3-bulb centre fitting type ones rather than recessed ones, so they don't tend to overheat?

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:

I found the opposite. My recessed halogens have been good, but the open / non vertical ones blow regularly (and trip the circuit while they're at it).

In reply to gethin_allen:

I work for a lighting company and have been testing (Dimmable) LED lamps for the last few months.
BELL lamps are very good and Megaman are excellent value for money.