LED Downlights

[NewHome]

Soooo, I cannot win this argument with my partner and we are spending over $100 per downlight plus installation :mad:.

I totally understand where he is coming from and that the LED Downlights will save us money in the long run, but I just see the $$$$ now. The $20 ones look fine to me!

Who else has LED and is it worth it?

[thisisme]

Mr thisisme wanted LEDs too but at over $100 a pop there was no way I was gonna pay that much money. They are worth it in the long run (can't remember exactly how many years it takes but over 6 I think).

We are going to make provision for them and will replace the normal downlights when the price of LEDs drops.

We might still put some LEDs in the highest usage areas but definitely not throughout the whole house.

[Julie-Ann]

NewHome if I was planning on spending more than 3-5 years in a home I would buy the LED and save on the power bills. I am told the power savings are a lot. With power bills going through the roof it could add up to lots of dollars:clapping:.
I haven't got them and probably never will as I can never say I will be in a home a year later.:rolleyes::D

[thisisme]

Using dimmers and for example turning down by 20% will almost halve the energy consumption of a downlight and will help reduce your electricity bill. We are having dimmers everywhere and plan to use them as much as possible until we replace our halogen lights with LEDs.

[NewHome]

That's a good idea I hadn't thought of thisisme! We are having dimmers on our main living area so that will increase savings also.

Julie-ann I hope your right and we save lots of money!

[Julie-Ann]

You can tell by the number of watts that is different on the LED light and the standard halogen light. So a LED light may be only 35w to give you the equivalent 50w of halogen lights. I am not sure of the exact wattages but if you check that out you will see what percentage you should save.
Of course the catch is you have to stay in your house for the initial cost to be paid off from the savings.:)

[Eli]

We were told by an electrician that you need to have double the amount of LEDs to get the same amount of lighting, which based on the wattage sounds about right. Why would you bother if that is really the case?

[NewHome]

Eli, haven't heard that before. We just have the usual/normal amount of downlights on our plans. What did you do?

[thisisme]

As a general guide 7 Watt is a replacement for 35 Watt Halogen and 10 Watt is a replacement for 50 Watt Halogen.


For around $100 a pop you should be able to find some that are as bright as the 50w halogen downlights.

[giggle_smile]

We have just recently sold our home and when the building inspection was done, some of our downlights were too close to the beams so we have had to change them all to LEDs. We managed to get them for $55 per globe, we had to get 8 of them.

To be honest, i dont no why we didnt do it sooner. The light that comes out them is very pure and bright, its doesnt change the look of your paint when they are on. It took about 3 days to get used to them, but the best thing is we got our power bill this week and even thou they have only been in for about 8 weeks, our bill has dropped significantly. The globes we bought are meant to last 10 years! Also the fact that they dont heat up is a great thing as they are less of a fire hazard than the traditional downlight globes.

[NewHome]

Oh thats really good to hear giggle smile!

[Cheltenham Home]

We're moving in to our extended and renovated home this week. We've installed Crompton LED lights (http://cheltenhamhome.blogspot.com/search/label/LED) through the living and dining area. The electrician is completing the wiring today and tomorrow so we haven't seen them turned on yet...

The spacing is the same as normal LED's based upon the electrician and builders other projects. Our electrician arranged a sample LED with standard power cord that we took to another house with much cheaper LED's in it, and also a house with halogen and CFL downlights. In each we stood on a ladder and held the LED light up next to the different types of lights. The Crompton light is bright and warm (LED's have been criticised for being cold and clinical - the sample one we had didn't have that problem at all).

Re dimmer switches, whether they save electricity depends on the technology in the switch. Old ones reduced current to the light to 'dim' it, and converted 'excess' energy to heat. Hence even when dimmed you consumed the same energy and your electricity bill was the same. Apparently newer ones actually rapidly flick the power off and on (and convert a small amount to heat), so producing an overall energy saving. If a sparky reads this hopefully they can verify my explanation for other readers.

If I recall correctly, the life of our LED's is expected to be 50,000 hours. If they run for six hours per day that is a life of 22 years.

[Cheltenham Home]

We have moved into our renovated home with LED downlights (http://cheltenhamhome.blogspot.com/2011/01/led-lighting-what-is-it-like-in.html) in the living, dining, upstairs ensuite and stairwell.

In the living area we have three rows of four downlights, each on its own switch, and the row against the wall on a dimmer because the TV is mounted on that wall.

The light is delightfully warm. When watching TV in the evenings we are finding that either the row against the wall, dimmed, is bright enough for the whole space, or just the middle row (not dimmed). If we entertaining or were reading we would probably put them all on.

is it worth it? Yes, I think so. Over normal halogen installations we are significantly ahead (ie lower energy use). The quality of the brand of LED lighting we used is excellent.

[Julie-Ann]

The lights look fantastic Cheltenham Home:thumbs up:.
I like how you did the 3 rows on different switches too. It gives you so much flexibility.
Thanks for showing us:kiss:

[thisisme]

NewHome, do you know what brand LEDs your electrician is putting in?

[carolleigh]

Using dimmers and for example turning down by 20% will almost halve the energy consumption of a downlight and will help reduce your electricity bill. We are having dimmers everywhere and plan to use them as much as possible until we replace our halogen lights with LEDs.

We want to get dimmers throughout the house too.... do you have a price for what dimmers cost please?

thisisme - I'm also interested to find this out.

[NewHome]

My fiance is gettig prices from his contacts at work, I have no idea yet what brand. Sorry.