LED advice

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by yebaws, Jun 18, 2021.

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  1. yebaws

    yebaws New Member

    Looking for dimable LED lights for my new build. Thing to do now seems to be to use units with bulb integrated in the fitting, rather than a separate fitting with replaceable bulb.

    My experience of LED GU10 reliability has not been a good one, old halogens way outlasting LED's

    I can't decide whether to use GU10 fittings with bulbs or the integrated ones. If the integrated one fails then the whole unit has to be replaced. And in 5 years time I may not be able to get hold of the same unit, so I'll end up with a load of different units. Using the GU10 fittings would deal; with this issue, but are the GU10 bulbs less reliable / poorer light quality than the integrated ones?

    Pros & Cons and any advice appreciated. I need to get a lot of these so want to get it right...
     
  2. Peterdevon

    Peterdevon Screwfix Select

    I always fit gu10, there are some good lamps around such as Osram Parathom
     
  3. techie

    techie Screwfix Select

    What Peter said….
     
  4. Bazza

    Bazza Screwfix Select

    What they both said ^^^
     
  5. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    I have GU10's and as yet not a single one has failed, in fact LED wise I can list the failures as so few, some G5.3 from Pound World 0.58 watt really toys, a 24 watt 5 foot tube had less than 18 months, and a G9 failed within a day, that one I took apart to see how they worked, found a dry joint, soldered and it is back in use. Have a E14 which looks discoloured, but not failed.

    Been using LED now for around 5 years.

    I have heard other say they have failed, and one wonders why, last house no SPD underground supply, voltage dropped around 3 years ago when a load of solar panels appeared to 235 volt. This house again under ground supply with a SPD.

    A LED will have problems with spikes, but I have used the cheapest I can find except for the 5 foot tube, which was only one that really failed.

    It seems EU was talking about a ban of lamps with non replaceable parts, although not part of EU, this may mean no replacements in the future.
     
  6. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    You probably know that the dimmer switch needs to be suitable for the low LED wattages.....
     
  7. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Look at the ‘Integral’ brand of LED lamps if your going for separate fittings and lamps

    large range of all the shapes and sizes and cap fittings that you need, good quality and light output, dimmable options work well with the Varilight Pro range of dimmers

    Had them all over my house for around 5 years and really can’t remember changing many at all during that time - couple of candle lamps and that’s it

    Well worth a look
     
  8. yebaws

    yebaws New Member

    Not my experience at all unfortunately. Even with more expensive and recent LED GU10's, many are dead after a year or two. Could well be that our supply is not very consistent and this is causing the issue. I read that the integrated ones were more efficient, brighter and lasted longer because they dissipate heat better...Sorry, "SPD"?
     
  9. Bazza

    Bazza Screwfix Select

    Don’t confuse Integral (a maker’s name)
    with integrated (a luminaire that has the lamp and driver all in one fitting).
    You can’t change the bulbs on integrated fittings.
     
  10. yebaws

    yebaws New Member

    I can see why that would happen, but I haven't confused the two..
     
  11. Lectrician

    Lectrician Screwfix Select

    Collingwood H2 Pro. The only downlight you can truly fit and forget.
     
    Bazza likes this.

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