Hi,
I would like to replace my halogen MR16 in my house. We have 17 of these light bulbs, and they each consume 42-50W. I would like to replace them by LED 5-6W.
Anyone knows a website where I could order 17 to 20 good quality LED MR16? I would like to spend ~$100, no more.
Anything special I should know when replacing my MR16 from halogen to LED? My house is 9 years old. I live in the ACT.
Thank you.
~$100 for 20 bulbs, around $5ea. That's a pretty small budget. You could always look around on ebay? buy one from each seller to hedge the dodgy ones :D
But seriously; when you get the LED ones, there will be a noticeable difference. We had warm white, and the LED "warm" was very bright white. Also, the spread and brightness of the light isn't as nice as the halogen ones. I know it's implicit in the drop in wattage for the bulbs, but it is quite significant.
tl;dr, you'll be getting cooler colours, less candelas, and a smaller beam of light with 5W bulbs
Interesting.
But "110° beam spread" - can that be right ? I know it's not identical, but by comparison the Aldi GU10 LED spotlamps have a beam spread of 40° and the Aldi brochure shows their MR16 lamps as physically very similar to the GU10s, so I'd expect 40° from them, too.
Depends what you want.
Worth trying the 4 pack for $20 to see if they flicker with you tranformers
http://www.bunnings.com.au/click-5w-gu5-3-led-warm-white-glo…
I got 110 degree beam on the ones I bought at Masters. Much better than the 40 narrow beam.
Hi Zirkaloy….I was in similar situation and retrofitting over 20 or so halogen to led. After lots of trying and research I settled on the new Philips brand.The biggest hurdle to overcome is whether they work with your existing transformers in the ceilings for each downlight you have and also if you have any wired to any dimmers. These were supposed too work with both, but alas not all of them did. Hence I have now contacted a company which will replace all my downlights under the VEET scheme, I live in VIC, and although a bit pricey…they will replace all my transformers, retrofit the led downlights, take away the old halogen and dispose of responsibly….and all work is done by a qualified A grade electrician. So in hind sight all I can say is if you are looking to retrofit yourself….you will need to replace the transformer and globe, which would probably require you to hard wire in the transformer to the globe….which I would only do if you knew what you were doing playing with 120/240V.
5watt LEDs are not very bright at all. You will want around a 10watt led for the same brightness.
I got MR16 5W from bunnings on the weekend, 8 packs make the cost $5 per bulb. Theres a few places online that are a bit cheaper if buying in bulk, really depends on the way your lights are set up.
If you need to do it right now, then I can't help you.
But if you are prepared to watch the Aldi newsletter for a few months, you may be able to buy from them.
They make a range of LED replacement lamps available as bargain purchases; the last time was about 3 weeks ago.
When they have this special, Aldi offer two types of spotlights, the MR16 (12 volt) and the GU10 fitting (different pins with a bulbous end and a twist locking action) and nominally 230 volt. From memory, these spotlights are priced at $8 each.
I came in on the tail end of the last lot just as one of our GU10 halogen outdoor spotlights failed. I had been watching the Aldi specials for a while, but never taken the plunge. Essentially I tried one Aldi (branded "Muller Licht") GU10 and was astounded. Many LED lamps I find weak and insipid and not really useable, but these ones were rated at 5W power consumption and claimed equivalent to 47W of light (I forget the lumen rating, maybe 320).
They are way brighter than the halogen GU10 spots (admittedly those were rated at 35W) and run cool, while the halogens were serious heat generators - the metal spotlight tubes remained too hot to touch 10 minutes after switching off.
We now have much outdoor improved light, cool fittings, and a much lower nominal power consumption.
After purchasing these, I came across a different model by Aldi sold in packs of 4 (brand Starke or similar), also GU10 fitting but rated at 6W and each containing 6 small LEDs versus the 3 large LEDs our Muller Licht models contain.
The Aldi GU10 lamps we bought were not dimmable.
We also have MR16 interior lights and, then next time Aldi have these on sale, I'm going to try them, too.
Some of ours are on dimmers - you did not mention this, but, if you have dimmers, you need to check that the lamps you are buying are dimmable. They usually have some extra electronics, may have a larger base, and cost more.
We are fans of Aldi but not all the electronic products are universally good and you are safer to test one first.
In this case the product was brilliant and the price good. I had seen Philips LED GU10s on web stores for something like $24, and these cost $8.
In metropolitan stores, the Aldi LED spotlight replacement lamps must be popular because they seem to sell out quickly. You may have to either be quick or to visit Aldi stores in areas where the demographic is such that LED spotlights are not in demand.