I am considering change my light bulb into LED light bulb, but I hesitated which kind of bulb i should choose, mr16 light bulb or GU10? Which one is good and energy saving?
mr16 light bulb or GU10
(10 posts) (6 voices)-
Posted Tuesday 3 Jan 2012 @ 7:29:19 am from IP #
-
cool at home
MemberWe have both... kept our existing transformers with the 12v bulbs but of course you may find you have to change due to interference.... many do.
I can't say which one is most energy saving... obviously the transformer uses power so in theory the 240v bulb is most energy saving, but you have to factor in the longevity of the arrangement, and I don't know if a bulb with transformer will last longer than one without.. but I'm sure someone on this forum will know that. Lance??
From a light output perspective, we can't tell the difference.
Hope this helps.
Posted Wednesday 4 Jan 2012 @ 3:04:29 am from IP # -
lightingmatters
MemberWith LED both can be extremely energy saving. It will depend on what you've got at the moment and whether you need an electrician to come in for any work.
MR16 would probably end up using more power because of the conversion from 240 to 12V, depends on the transformer. Same thing with GU10, PF can depend on the lamp used though.
If you have an electronic transformer it would be worth looking at something with an intelligent driver in it to mimic the load to start the transformer, otherwise, flickering, buzz, poor dimming and other common issues with LED MR16s can occur, which all end up making either the LED lamp last a shorter life span or the transformer turning on and off makes it last a shorter life.
I've done a write up on this but I don't think I'm allowed to post it here. But if you google: "converting halogen to led downlights guide" it should come up.
Posted Thursday 5 Jan 2012 @ 6:47:55 am from IP # -
canyoner
MemberWhich ever you opt for ensure the LED Driver (not a transformer) is matched to the LED.
A matched driver will supply the correct current (for current driven LED) or voltage (for voltage driven LED) & ensure maximum life of the LED. The mains input voltage will even have an effect on the on the life of the LED.
Australia is supposed to be 240V, moving to 230V mains. You can get anywhere between 210v to 265V regularly in any of the eastern states at the moment.
Anything over 240V will shorten the life of the LED & their driver without some sort of voltage regulation within the unit.
Some MR16 LEDs say you can use a standard Transformer (Tx). Using a one of these Tx for standard MR16 lamps will not regulate the output when used with a MR16 LED.Posted Tuesday 10 Jan 2012 @ 2:46:06 am from IP # -
cool at home
MemberCanyoner (and others)... we've just had 4 of 5 lights in a row in our kitchen 'blow', flipping the fuse at the same time, over 2 days. These are 240V lights, that we have elsewhere throughout the house and have had no problems with over nearly 2 years. The kitchen lights have been in for about 13 months and no problems till recently.
As this is happening in only one part of the house... done by a specific electrician... could it be something we need an electrician to look at, or is it most likely to be a voltage issue? Or something else?
Any ideas how we can now remedy? At even $30 a pop, LED lights lasting a year or less are no bargain!
Posted Tuesday 10 Jan 2012 @ 10:03:04 am from IP # -
canyoner
MemberCool,
Could be a problem in the LED itself.
We had a problem with a range from Taiwan we used to bring in. A very small wire on the chip to the LED was heating & cooling with turning them on/off, eventually cracking the wire & hence the LED 'died'. This usually happened about 6-12 months after they were installed & happened in batches on various sites.
After we sent them back under warranty, after several weeks of trouble shooting they had to do some mircoscopic xray to find this problem.
This was a quality control or design problem at their factory & one which I would assume many of the cheaper LEDs would suffer.
We don't use that supplier any more.Posted Tuesday 10 Jan 2012 @ 10:46:15 pm from IP # -
cool at home
MemberThanks for the reply Canyoner.
I haven't sent the lights back yet, but will be... they are under warranty too. However we have the same type of lights all through the house, and this row are the only ones to experience problems in the past 2 years. I'll post when I've spoken to the supplier, as it may be of interest to others.
Posted Wednesday 11 Jan 2012 @ 2:49:28 am from IP # -
canyoner
MemberCool,
That's the thing with LED lighting & the way they are made in batches. Those made on one day using all the same bin LED, same process, same everything, as those made on any other day would be perfect. Just those made in that batch on that day have turn out with a problem. Too many variables to point the blame: Hung over operator or in a rush to get away early, dirty component supply, etc.
The example in my last post was just one we had. The problem could be anything in the process.
That's were quality control comes in. Checking items from EVERY batch. Even then, as in this case, it took 6-12 months for the problem to come out. People cutting corners in their manufacture process to save time of money somewhere.Posted Thursday 12 Jan 2012 @ 12:00:27 am from IP # -
photonthief
Membercool at home said:
I can't say which one (MR16 or GU10) is most energy saving... obviously the transformer uses power so in theory the 240v bulb is most energy saving, ...Actually, that reasoning is not quite right. In both cases the 240VAC needs to be stepped down to the ~3.5VDC required by the LED. In one case (MR16) the stepdown is done externally, whereas with the GU10 the stepdown is done internally. My guess is that a properly engineered GU10 might be (very slightly) more efficient, as the stepdown can be done optimally in one hit, whereas the MR16 must firstly be stepped down to 12V, which is purely a historical halogen compatibility issue, and then requires further conversion to drive the actual LED. In practice, I would guess the difference is negligible, and varies between manufacturers.
Posted Friday 13 Jan 2012 @ 5:59:32 am from IP # -
said:
I am considering change my light bulb into LED light bulb, but I hesitated which kind of bulb i should choose, mr16 light bulb or GU10? Which one is good and energy saving?You can an LED replacement that can work for either from brightgreen. They have called the DR700 and I don't think It has any difference in performance between MR or GU. It saves heaps of energy, we used to replace our mr16 halogens and you can't notice a difference in brightness. It only uses 10 watts of powe. loads less than halogens.
Sue
Posted Friday 16 Mar 2012 @ 4:59:33 am from IP #
