| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| jema |
Decent LED bulbs?http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2009/sep/09/led-light-bulbSounds promising at last 
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| RichardW |
At £25 per bulb I will give it a miss thanks.
Better to use twice as many normal LED bulbs. Will be ok when they get to the same prices as all the others. We have recently fitted our first LED bulbs. They replaced 3 x GU10 CFL's (which replaced 3 x 50w halogens perfectly acceptably). I would say that I need to add 2 more to get the same light coverage but that would still have less power uses than 1 x GU10 CFL. So we have gone from 150w to 21w to 3w (but need 5w). (oh & I have stopped getting a burnt head from the halogens too) Price wise I could fit all 5 that we need for less than one of those Philips ones (ok plus fittings). |
| jema |
Sounds like you got better LEDs than I managed, the ones I got would have needed at least 5x the number of bulbs, and I think I'm being generous there.
Agree £25 is pretty scary  But I am tempted as I still run the Halogens.
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| RichardW |
Get some CFL's.
(just make sure they fit your fittings as some are odd sizes) In fact I think a mix of CFL & LED might work well. (instant light from the LED backed up by more light from the CFL's) I am trying some of the LED's from lidl (not the cheapest but I thought if they were terrible I could take them back) LED's are better for "task" lighting rather than space lighting. Would be good for lighting the kitchen work surface & cooker but not stairways unless you fitted loads. |
| dpack |
i will report back once i have the 12vt running
the strips of 5 x5 leds in 25's that can be cut, at less than a pound a watt from maplins seen like a good start 
i will make my own fittings with bits ,solder and gaffertape they run cold so plenty of stuff for fittings |
| Fee |
It's certainly promising, they'll come down in price eventually. I'm sick to the back teeth of the LEDs we replaced the halogens with in the kitchen, bloody useless as main lighting they are, and in the bathroom.
So much that we've put halogens back in half of those in the main kitchen light so they're half and half. |
| ros |
We replaced the halogens in the kitchen with these
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GULED5W.html not cheap - but so far they've lasted 7 months, which is twice as long as cheap halogen bulbs did, so I think they'll pay for themselves pretty quickly. We have 6 downlights in a 3Mx3M kitchen and the lighting level is good. For extra I have LED under cupboard lighting - over where I make pastry and sit with my laptop - for both of these it's really good not to have the heat of halogen
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| Fee |
That's what we used, Ros, but we only have 4 bulbs to the main light in the kitchen. We have under-cupboard lighting that was in when we moved into the house almost 6 years ago and non have gone yet. Striplights! |
| Fee |
It's not normal that I envisaged a striplight doing the striptease and sang 'the stripper' out loud as I posted that, is it? 
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| Mutton |
So was the striplight dressed in slit dress and kinky underwear, or was it peeling its glass casing off? |