Replacement for Incandescent Globe

I have a C-Bus system installed in 2005 with dimmers. Up until now I've been using incandescent globes, but my supplies are running out.

From reading this forum, I'm confused:

1. CFLs seem like a bad idea
2. LEDs might not dim properly because of low watts / leakage
3. Halogen might work, but I'm not sure

What should I buy?

 

GU10 halogen 240V

Dimmable LED (expensive and not that bright)

 

I did my place in late 2004/early 2005, so similar timings.

Being completely off-grid, power consumption was (is) a primary concern, but flexability was too. I installed 56-channels of dimmers (7 x 8-channel) and 60 channels of relays. Relays for things that would only ever be on or off (like heat-lamps in bathrooms, power circuits for hifi, TV, pumps etc).

I installed 120 odd megaman CFLs, and used the dimmer channels as "switches" - going from "off" to "on" and not using the dimming functions. I also have a number of halogen tasklights (over work areas for example).

The megaman CFLs are very slow to warm up, and in 5 years I've had about 20% of them fail. Not very impressive.
The standard 50W halogens I had in walk-in-robes and the pantry were blowing up very frequently - sometimes they'd last as little as 2 weeks - although I suspect this is more because of the fittings than anything.

I have a number of them repaced with inexpensive GU10 style 240V LED lamps, but as others have said, they're not very bright, don't turn right off, and are not cheap.

I recently replaced my dimmer modules with relays (Thanks Clipsal, esp you, Nik!), because of the rather large leakage current through the dimmers. (I measured 140mA of (mostly reactive) current PER MODULE through the snubbers). I've had no more CFLs fail since then either - just lucky, or were the dimmers contributing to their demise? I don't know.

I certainly appreciate 1 amp less quiescent current making the inverters job that much easier.

If anyone finds a good, inexpensive source of suitable 240V LED lighting, roughly equivalent to 50W halogens, I'd love to hear. (Dimmable isn't even an issue for me)

 

The best thing I have found is the Pierlite Starburst/Crompton XL LED downight. They are fully dimmable, have a light output close to 50W halogens and work with all C-Bus dimmers. The only downside is the cost, at over $100 each.

 

They also need good clearance behind.

 

Almost all of the lights in the house are ordinary bayonet fittings not downlights.

 

Yes, they are a bit longer than regular MR16's, but they only need 20mm or so of clearance around the body of the lamp.

 

Bayonet fittings are typically suited to omnidirectional light sources, like incandescents. I think you'll see a long-term trend where the LEDs are integrated into the fittings since they have such a long life, so you may need to start thinking about changing your fittings anyway, although retrofit LED lamps will certainly be available for a long time.

The short-term solution is a GLS bulb with a halogen lamp inside it, like these, although the days of this kind of lamp are numbered.

For an LED lamp with a bayonet base, I'd be interested if anyone has tried these. At 560 lumens they'd theoretically be somewhere between a 40W and 60W incandescent in terms of light output. There are higher output LED bulbs with edison screw or bayonet bases, but they all seem to have their drawbacks, such as physical size, appearance, or inclusion of a fan.

 

Are there any products available now that are simple replacements?

So any halogen globe with a B22 fitting from the supermarket should be dimmable?

How long until these globes are banned.

At $60, you would want it to work.

We have 75W or 100W lights fitted in many of the sockets, so I'm not sure if 60W will be bright enough.

 

Products are available that are LED lamps with a B22 base, but they are usually compromised in some way when compared to incandescents. They tend to be bulky, directional, or have poor light output. They need to be assessed on their merits.

Yep. Halogen B22 GLS bulbs are dimmable with any conventional dimmer that previously worked with incandescent bulbs.

I forget the date. It's in about 12 months time from memory.

Many people wishing to switch to LED are in the same boat right now.

 

In car circles we pass the vote around a do a group buy. I wonder what the discount on a 5000 Crompton units would be ....

Incidentally I notice that IKEA has nice products but only for the Edison screw fittings.

 

Hi

Some information here indicates that the encapsulated halogen B22 lamps that meet or exceed 95% of the MEPS requirement will be around until 30 September 2012. After that date they have to meet the full MEPS requirement.

Paul