To want to change my LED spotlights back to planet killing but nicer halogen?

[Honesttodog]

We have inherited a lot of energy saving lights in our house. Would it be dreadful of me to change most of them back to halogen? They make our kitchen feel cheap and grey and I am happier to sit in near darkness rather than turn them on when guests are here. But I know our bills will go up and it's not great for the planet. I just want to have nice lighting at home!! Any idea on the impact of changing around 24 lights over?

I'm the same, got nice halogen / tungsten lights, hate energy saving bulbs, the light they give is just horrible.
Try and make up for the environmental impact in other ways maybe?

Not going to be able to do much for a couple of yrs, big save will be sorting our gappy floorboards, carpeting some bedrooms maybe. But loads of messy work to do before that, dusty stuff like kitchen and bathroom and reprinting everywhere.

The newer ones give out a much, much nicer light. They are expensive to buy but if you buy new 'warm' white ones you might find that the light they give out is perfectly ok.

Ha, it's horrific, I hate moving! I took over my parents farm about 5 years ago and moved into the big house (never moving again - my kids can wait till I die to get their hands on the house). It took DW and I a good 3 years and the best part of £400k to gut and renovate the place. Proper grand designs job but it was worth it. Place looks awesome now and maintenance wise is set for another couple of hundred years.

When it all gets on top of you, think what it'll be like when you finish it!

Yes, apparently you can get warm white LEDs. The normal ones are terrible!

Are you sure you mean led? Fluorescent low energy bulbs and give out a nasty light and are also bad for the environment as they contain heavy metals. Yet another EU con.

Oh god so I need to enter the world of lighting do I? Seem to spend my life searching for unfindable stuff for this house. Will look into it.

I went back to halogen for the ones I actually use and put the 25-year ones in fittings we hardly ever use (so they will probably last 100 years :)).

The grey-pink light was really depressing.

Am sitting in said grey pink light.

LadyG my electrician said you could get LEDs in warm white. I doubt I'll like them though. I just like the old expensive spots.

There's a whole world of lighting you obviously need to investigate!

We used to have halogen spotlight ones but they don't last all that long and, as you say, are bad for the planet (as are those normal bayonet bulb ones - terrible manufacturing processes!).

We now have LED spotlights in the kitchen and hallway, which are the 'warm' type. They give off exactly the same sort of light as the old halogen ones did. In the playroom we have the 'daylight' sort of LEDs - as that room tends not to be used in the evenings and we'd only put the lights on in there if it was a dark/rainy day, in which case we prefer to have it seeming more day-like (IYSWIM?). They last forever for a really really long time, although are more expensive than halogens to replace.

You need the warmer coloured ones with a wider beam. I've just replaced all the bulbs in our kitchen with warm coloured bulbs (originally replaced halogen light fittings with new fittings and what turned out to be rubbish, dim, blueish LED bulbs) and I swear that it feels like a summer's day in there when the lights are on. Fingers crossed, they'll last longer than the sodding halogens which seemed to blow every couple of weeks.

Generally speaking, I find fluorescent lights can have a better quality than most LEDs. There are plenty of bad examples of both, but it's easier to find a good fluorescent than a good LED. However it's also harder to find a fluorescent small enough for many fittings.

I've spent a fortune recently on LEDs (for a bathroom fitting) that stopped working within weeks. I've gone back to halogen.

I think the statistic that measure "quality" is CRI = Colour Rendering Index. Not always quoted in adverts unfortunately.

Nothingtralala - do you know the brand and type of bulb you have? Would be a v helpfully starting point!

Still squirrel what grand are yrs?

*brand

I have warm white minisuns and they're fine.

Yabu

We've been slowly replacing the halogen spots in our kitchen with LED ones for a couple of years.

The ones we have are great and havent blown every time a child jumps in the bathroom above.

my DP is the original energy saving lightbulb refusenik and has a chest of drawers in his shed stashed with tungsten bulbs, and the LEDs are his idea. I will look at packaging tomorrow. They're not cheap though - but we were getting through the halogen ones pronto

Thanks, just rummaging on amazon trying to find a reliable high quality brand.

You have convinced me to find a good led!

I just installed warm white LED spots in my sitting room - I LOVE them - they give of lively light and look so much better than the hideous flickery fluorescent ones that too forever to brighten we had before.

*give off lovely light

Very grateful if anyone has a brand name. And type.
Googling mini suns

Phillips Hue Lux.

DH has just kitted his office out with the Hue system and it's amazing. The Hue Lux bulbs are simpler, just warm white light (rather than warm to cool and colour changing) but it is a really nice shade.

We have Philips warm white led spotlights and they're a really nice light