LED downlighters in Bathroom

[thegravy]

Hi

I currently have 2 halogen downlighters in my small bathroom but would like to change them to 2 LED downlighters, something like this:

http://www.collingwoodlighting.com/en/products/downlights-halers-range/item/h4-ff-uk

is this a job for a sparky or is it something me / my builder Dad can could do?

Is there any certificate needed for fitting these??

thanks in advance

Damian

 

[ericmark]

It would depend what you have already. What you link to is a complete lamp the LED is an integral part it does not state volts but does call it mains so one would assume 230vac.

The old quartz is split roughly into two types. Extra low voltage (12v) the bulb normally has two pins often GU 5.3 fitting and low voltage (230v) the bulb often has a GU10 bayonet fitting.

The GU10 is easy you just unplug the quartz and replace with LED the GU 5.3 however will have some voltage dropper some where and often these have a minimum current. So to swap often they need re-wiring to 230v.

If rewiring to 230 then why limit your options with a LED built into the lamp rather than use a GU10 so you can plug is a host of options?

 

[thegravy]

hi mate

thanks very much for the reply, yep should have mentioned i have 2 downlighters that uses GU10 bulbs!

so i guess this means I can just change the bulbs not the whole unit!

ta

D

 

[ericmark]

Yes very simple. I have done that with all mine. The only down side is the angle often only 60° where old quartz was wider.

 

[RF Lighting]

Use warm white 7W megaman lamps as your replacements and you will not be disappointed.

 

[dhutch]

I have just put LED replacements in my bathroom and kitchen.

Used the '35w Equiv' 4.5w Diall units from BnQ which do the job ok, its less critical anyway as its not a room you work in. Kitchen I used a mixed of '50w Equiv' 6.5w Dial units and Osram 5.5w units , with one tescos own brand unit.

They do not give as good a light and beam as the halogens, but they are not bad. In the kitchen the shadowing on the worktop has got slightly worse, but it was not great to start with. The dialls where much worse for this.

Dialls are fractionally warmer which I see as a plus as well as working out cheaper as they come in 4packs, plus i then get 10% at BnW
Osrams have a slightly nicer light distribution which is why I ended up using four of each. The Osrams claim to be dimmable but I have not tested this.
They also have about a 30ms delay on coming on, which is a minor grip but noticeable especially when used with other bulbs in the same room.


I thought long and hard about swapping them, but while nice the Halers are expensive and its more work, I would have moved away from downlighters all together but I don't have the ceiling height in the Kitchen which is the room I most care about anyway.

Lastly, I did try the 110deg Diall's, which light the wall/ceiling a lot better making the top of the room look lighter, but sadly put even less on the worktop and left the floor and lower room looking get dark so I returned them.


Daniel