Suitable replacement for GU10 Halogens?

[AndrewTheMuppet]

Hi There

I have 13 50 watt GU10 halogens in recessed ceiling down lighters burning in my kitchen.
Looks fantastic, makes the Star Galaxy granite really sparkle, consumes 650Watts !!

Anyone know of a suitable low energy replacement that will give the same amount of light, not look sort of bluey like LED's and still bring out the sparkle in the granite? (Halogens are really good at this).

Andrew

[sbowler]

Why not fit a dimmer? we have for the bathroom lights.

[Bruce_]

Any low energy replacement will give a very different light. The beauty of halogen is that it's a point source. So you get sharp reflections, crisp shadows, and the "sparkle" that you mention.

If you went for compact fluorescents, you will low that sparkle. Even if you get the same amount of light, it will be different light. It's a diffuse light. Sometimes that's preferable, but not in your case I think.

Think about a bright sunny day with clear sky, and a bright day with a cloudy sky.

LED might be slightly better than fluoro, but they tend not to give a nice clean white colour.

As suggested, try a dimmer. Or fit 20W instead of 50W, if you're just trying to reduce energy.

[ARoss]

I replaced a similiar kitchen setup with lamps by Megaman 11w compact gu10


You will probably need new lamp holders as the CF are longer in size.

Sure light output is down and start up from cold a little longer, but the running costs and the reduced hassle of changing bulbs is great.

IMHO they are also significantly safer as many 50w lamps run far to hot and commonly cause damage to cables were they are not installed well.

Bottom line is the guilt of burning 650w is reduced to 132w.

If you dig deep enough the Megaman CF has various colour temps to give a warmer less white light and even have a dimmer CL that works just by toggling the on/off switch. Very impressed compared to the earlier generation 7w/9w really bad CF GU10 efforts.