Because you can't smash a Spinning Jenny in total darkness.

Yes you do. I have a large central chandelier type light fitting and have replaced the Halogen lamps with LED's. The dimmer I got from an electrical wholesaler cost £70 so they are not cheap.

regards

I'm all in favour of switching to LED where possible, and believe it will be a good thing, but I would like to see LED bulbs properly guaranteed. I object to paying ten times the cost for something that often lasts no longer. I bought three LED bayonet fitting bulbs last summer and all three have since met their demise.

I suspect halogen sales are in steep decline already. There are certainly questions to be asked about the poor longevity of some LED lamps. Most people do not relate to the claims made for lamp lifetime in hours and the number of times a lamp is cycled is likely to be a factor in reducing life of the lamp. It would be difficult to claim for a lamp that doesn’t meet expectations as no one logs lamp running time or cycles. I think someone brought up the point that some markets demand a higher performance lamp and they do exist. Maybe the government should insist on better performance lamps for the consumer.

Mike

I have a bucket full of halogen GU10 lamps (got told off by sparks for calling them bulbs, you plant them in the garden he said) a result of replacing with LED. My dimmer switch for LED (you need dimmable lamps as well) was from Screwfix, a Varilight leading edge dimmer if I remember right, about £15.

All my LED, including an outside light fitting are lasting well, couple of years or more so far.

Bill D.

I'm more than a bit narked about the plan to ban fluorescent tubes in the near future. LED tubes have, pretty much, exactly the same lumens/Watt as T8 triphosphor fluorescent tubes. The only ones that even claim a better output only emit over 180° of their circumference.

Not quite the same, but the flourescent tubes in the kitchen used to dimmly glow when switched off and I found that the light switch was on the neutral side instead of the live.

Which in practical terms means you can leave a flu' on 24/7 for free!

Well I rent an Industrial Unit from the local authority, it's lit with twin 8 ft fluorescents, via spinning disc meters.

The lights certainly spin the discs, and cost more to run, than much of my industrial woodworking machinery!

No: you do not need a different dimmer, unless we happened to have the right type already. I fitted dimmable LED bulbs to replace some filament bulbs and the existing dimmer switch worked perfectly.

James.

The cost-effectiveness of LED lamps depends mainly on their design and construction.

LED's have to run cool to give the quoted hours life and therefore getting rid of the heat they produce is paramount so heat sinks are really necessary for any lamp that produces a usable output.

Ceiling mounted GU10's are the biggest problem as people stuff insulation around them so even with a good heat sink they often cannot dissipate the heat fast enough and the LED starts to degrade and the output will drop over time.

Unless the light output efficiency can be improved (ie heat generation reduced) GU10 replacements are unlikely to be truly cost-effective.

Biggest problem for me was the tiny puck-shaped power unit reducing 240V for a couple of LED spots that a "professional electrician" buried in the roof insulation. When they failed I discovered that it had undergone a "loud brown smell" event, fortunately not setting the house on fire in the process! This was the same guy who installed new consumer units and pronounced there was an earth fault on the lighting circuit which he'd have to come back and fix. Next day there was no hot water – he had wired the immersion heater to the lighting so when the time switch turned it on the breaker tripped.