LED downlights

[diditrain]

Hi all, planning a re-model of my living room and am looking for some ideas for the lighting arrangement.
I like the idea of recessed downlights and was thinking along the lines of LED`s.
Any one use/recommend them
Ceiling is getting replaced so patching holes is not an issue.

 

[stevie h]

Standard gu10 fittings with led lamps maybe , only prob is that the lamps are £10 each for good ones


Ste

 

[12345aob]

do the led lamps last any longer than the usual gu10?

 

[Carter]

Oh they'll last a lot longer but there are ....isshoooz.

They don't kick out a lot of energy/light flux if you know what I mean, and they're not very 'penetrative' so if you're seeking to replace conventional lighting with them be prepared to pepper the ceiling with them to get the lux levels up.
Another 'problem' is the very limited spectral output that LEDs produce. Essentially all the light output is concentrated within 2 or 3 frequency bands whereas a flourescent or filament lamp contains a much broader spectrum of frequencies which are more 'easy' on the mind if you get my drift. They aren't the best for colour rendering if that's important to you.

I did a quick calculation for a mate who had 12 x 12v halogens in his kitchen which were inadequately cabled and had started to cook. He was using 600 watts to light a kitchen and still it wasn't a patch on the lux levels he had from a single 6 foot flouro. Replacing them all with LED units dumped the consumption from 600 W to about 25W!! but the lux level dropped as well but in nowhere near the same proportion as the drop in running cost.

Oh and he was having to replace a 50W halogen lamp every month and with a high ceiling it was a monstrous pain in the arse.

If you want S-E-R-I-O-U-S LED output check out this FULL spectrum bad lad!
Enfis

Shot at 2008-01-31

Quattro LED Light Engines, they have to water cool this beeyatch! Spectrum is software controlled so you can produce whatever spectral output you want. Think they're about £5k a pop though!