Best 50w halogen equivalent dimmable LED Downlight Unit

GU10 fittings

Hi Ben, I'm glad your units have worked out for you, they do seem to be well designed considering they have to squeeze all the electronics and heat management into such a small package. I had ruled them out a while ago because unless you are retrofitting it doesn't make sense to me to use an all in one unit, I just assumed that the manufacturers could build a better product if you they don't have to work with the constraints of a GU10 fitting.

I'm probably wrong, usually are

 

I think anyone who uses 5500K must be dealing in diamonds or taking photographs of still life using a plate camera. I can't think of any application that warrants twilight conditions indoors (that short period of light when the sunlight is perfectly neutral against the density value of skin).

3000K on the other hand reminds me of those flickering flame lamps used in small rooms and 1980 chandeliers. At this particular optical frequency you need about twice as many lamps to get a broad set of lighting conditions. But it can be done. Look at any church.

The modernist .... he wants an example of white paper to look white.

Personal taste has no rules so then the challenge is to find the quantity and quality of lights that meet with the specification and still give a pleasant combination and useful scenes.

 

One of the great benefits of LED lighting is that we now have almost total freedom in choosing colour temperature.

Previously, choosing a colour temperature was something that was only considered in specialist applications as alternate colour temperature lamps were expensive. We've lived with 2700K incandescents, 2900K halogens and 4000K fluorescents for a long time. Now, we can choose, and really target the right colour temperature for the right application using a single base technology.

CFL manufacturers have also missed a great opportunity IMHO. They typically targeted just 2 colour temperatures, which I would call 'incandescent yellow' (warm white at ~2700K) and 'washed out white' (~5000K with low CRI but high lumen output). Look at photos of places like Hong Kong and the high-rise buildings are often a random patchwork of cool/warm white illumination and nothing in between. With a lot of freedom in the phosphor on the inside of the tube, they could have made a real marketing advantage out of having a range of colour temperatures. I guess that they figured they had enough of a marketing advantage in that they use a lot less energy to run than incandescents.

One final factor to consider is how the human body responds to different nominal colour temperatures of light. High colour temperatures, like in the middle of the day, tell the body to be active, working, concentrating. Low colour temperatures, like those emitted by a burning fire, tell the body that it should be relaxing, winding down, getting ready to rest. Using the right colour temperature lighting in the right areas of a home can have a discernibly positive impact on the occupants. It's something that most people understand at some level (fluorescents were good for kitchens but not for lounge rooms) but now with LED we have the opportunity to really tailor the lighting for the application.

 

You make a good point especially for those people who benefit from lamps which extended their perception of daylight and assist greatly with "winter blues".

 

Assuming that you are comparing "like-for-like", a unit that has an external driver separate to the lamp head will almost always out perform a unit that is an all-in-one unit. The LEDs produce plenty of heat. So does the electronics that drives them. Put the 2 together and this reduces the amount of power that you can put through the LEDs for a fixed total amount of thermal performance. Separate the 2 and you can use the lamp heat sink exclusively for the LEDs. Muddying the waters is the fact that LED performance is still improving rapidly, so an inferior technical solution made with very recent LEDs can out-perform a technically superior design that uses older LEDs.

You're certainly not wrong. There's just lots of variables and the technology is still changing rapidly.

 

Hi Newman,

I see what your saying, I did notice being 8.5 watt they did get hotter than the 4.5 watt MR16 I was using before.
The globe is very well made the front is die cast alloy and the rear is ceramic, its a heavy globe and feels quality.
Saying that its only when I have them flat out they get the hot, the good thing is ramped right up is way too bright anyway.
I might try setting my power limits.

 

Hi

I was wondering if anyone had experience with Clipsal's own L960W/12WH LED kits?

Are they a good quality unit?

Cheers

Kurt

 

Quality is a relative term

Hi Kurt
I tried several LED downlights and noted all the consumption details, but do not have an accurate way of measuring the light output.
I did a rough (luminiaries in a test hole with a light meter fixed 1metre below) measurement with a lux meter, unfortunately the Clipsal model was ~350-400lux, 1/2 - 1/3 the output of the others that were 900-1300lux. (same 60degree beam)

As said previously the Lumitex Barricade is the best performer all round, best light output and lowest consumption of 12.5W against others Clipsal 15.2W, Crompton 16.3W, LED lighting EVO50 18.5W, Osram Luxpoint 19.6W.

I have a few more samples of others now but haven't had the time to sort out the light measuring so I can give a more meaningful response to people.
I'll post more when I can.

Regards
Matthew

 

Yes, and longer life expectancy also. For anyone interested, there was an informative article on this topic in the IEEE Spectrum magazine (March 2012, Volume 49, Number 3, page 42) titled "Driving the 21st Century's Lights".

Furthermore, when dimming is required, using a DALI-dimmable LED driver may be a better-engineered solution than using a "dimmer compatible" LED driver that is driven from a dimmer. A C-Bus DALI gateway in between can provide for C-Bus control. While more expensive at the beginning, this may result in better dimming performance, longer product lifetimes, and reduced maintenance costs.

 

Hi a 4 watts high brightness LED lamp(>120lm/w) equal to a 50 watts halogen.
3 LEDS in serial with a lm314 work with 400ma , can be built in a MR16 lamp for DC or AC 12V. in AC case it can be dim by edge way, but will not so good as halogen. best work way is DC by pwm dimming.