12v down lighters changed to LED

If not in a shower you should be good for new gu10 fittings with led lamps
Wire up in 1mm t+e to a junction box then to your feed but check with a spark if your unsure

 

If they are sealed and with a suitable IP rating they are ok, also all the electrical connections etc are above the ceiling therefore outside the zones.

 

Been using GU10 led lamps from LED Hut, found them excellent.

http://www.ledhut.co.uk/

 

Go through Quidco for LED Hut & get 20% cashback.

 

Other than some 0.58W LED's from Poundland all the 2 inch lamps using LED I have seen have not been MR16 they don't have a reflector at all. I would agree better to move from 12 volt and the GU5.3 connection. Even using a toroidal transformer I have had LED lamps fail I will guess they want a smooth supply not sine wave? As to drivers that is also a problem. True driver is current regulated, but lighting industry seems to also call simple 12 volt regulated power supplies drivers so one needs to be very careful. I use GU10 and I have noted with the lack of the MR16 reflector we get double angles of light. The beam is centre weighted 35 25°is common. For mothers wet room I used three 2W lamps they do well. That's the only room where they are in the ceiling my bathroom has pods and every other lamp is either a table lamp or wall lamp which was main reason to change as they were too hot.

With tungsten both GU5.3 and GU10 are MR16 lamps. MR16 refers to the reflector not voltage or fitting. With LED there seems to be a lot of rubbish on the market. An LED will give around 100 lumen per watt using a good quality driver, but many are down to 60 lumen per watt mainly because they are using inefficient drivers in the lamp. It does not really matter they are so much better than tungsten one can afford to lose 40% of the power. However it does mean a 3W and 5W lamp may give out the same light. Dimable lamps tend to give less lumen per watt and in the main these start a 5W so a 3W non dimable may give out same light.

10 ~ 30 volt DC lamps as used in caravans are all around the 100 lumen per watt clearly fitted with PWM drivers. (Pulse width modulated is really the same as switch mode) lamps marked simply 12 volt often have a resistor as the current control and 230 vac often a capacitor is used as current control those with PWM drivers built in are normally AC/DC and 150 ~ 250 volt rating.

 

Are you using the original cable that the 12 volt lights were wired in? it sounds to me like a multi out torrodial tx with that black heavy duty twin flex they used to be wired in. If so then check the earth requirements on the fittings you are installing.

 

For the cost I would fit the new lamps with 1.0mm T+E if you have 3 connections on your new lamps and keep up earth continuity as much as you can

My father would say 1.5mm he says 1.0 is t enough but won't listen that 1.0mm will carry 17a but it's only fed from a 6a breaker

 

The use of twin and earth or flex depends on how and what is being feed. Using T&E with clips holding it to the beams is clearly OK. But when it is not fixed then a clamp is really required at the lamp and JB to ensure the cable can't pull out. Since the regulations expect you to fix the cable they don't tell you it needs clamps. The problem with clamps and cable entry holes is they are often designed for round cable. However some JB's will not work with stranded cable specially maintenance free.

So the basic thing is once you stop following the regulations then you have to use common sense. You can't half follow regulations it's all or nothing. It either complies, or it does not comply there are no half measures. Most people will not lift floor boards to fit cable retainers we just fish it through best we can. So one has to use common sense selecting cable not trying to follow regulations.