LED lighting has seen amazing advances over the last few years and you can now get LED bulbs that are direct swaps for conventional household bayonet bulbs, halogen spotlights and even outdoor flood lights.
- They use 80-90% less energy than the old fashioned incandescent bulbs
- half the energy of a CFL bulb
- instantly reach full brightness – unlike the notoriously slow CFLs
The horrendously inefficient incandescent bulbs that wasted a staggering 97% of their energy as heat are now thankfully mainly banned – it’s illegal to produce or import those 100W and 60W bulbs into the EU.
LED Light Bulb
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Product LED light bulb, warm white Rating 8W (equivalent to a 60W incandescent)
500 lumens (we found a 12W bulb too bright for some rooms)Cost £10 Saving 50p per year for each CFL bulb replaced,
£7.50 per year for each incandescent replacedSupplier B&Q etc.
LED Strip Lighting
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Product LED strip lights, transformer & dimmer switch.
*note that dimmable LED bulbs don’t work with conventional dimmer switches*Rating 5W & 300 lumens per metre Cost £70 for a 5m strip and the kit
Conclusion: Fantastic lighting effect, and effective dimming, but this particular switch buzzes irritatingly when dimming.
LED Flood Light
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Product LED Floodlight with motion sensor Rating 10W Cost £25 Payback time 3 years Supplier now widely available at diy stores etc.