Can somebody explain LED lights please?

[LowLevelWhinging]

We currently have three of these type of light fittings in the kitchen.

They don't give great light and the bastard halogen bulbs need changing what feels like once a week. As we've got highish ceilings we always end up having 2 bulbs out of 9 lighting the kitchen.

We've got LED recessed lights in our bathroom and they're ace, with no need to change for years!

So, are there light fittings that we could swap to in the kitchen that will take LED bulbs? Or do they only come in the recessed style like this pic here?

I think I heard someone say you need a different, er, electrical thing (transformer?) inside the ceiling for LED lighting??

Can anyone help me understand?

As these have GU10 fittings you can do a straight swap for LED GU10 Bulbs.
There are other Types that do require changes to the transformer but not these.
If they require regular replacement then I'd be concerned there was a problem with the fitting / connection overloading the bulbs.
Our kitchen halogens lasted just over 12mths per bulb, I would expect yours to be similar. If they are lasting significantly less than this I think there is a problem somewhere and replacing the bulbs with LED GU10s might not make much difference.

You can buy LED bulbs designed to replace the halogen bulbs in your light fitting. We did this with our kitchen light about a year and a half ago, having spent the previous three years alternating between standing on a ladder replacing bloody halogen bulbs, and screaming "switch it off!" As soon as somebody left the kitchen. It now consumes less than a tenth of the energy, and we haven't had so much as a flicker, let alone a blown bulb.

Now, I'm not going to lie... The bulbs we got were expensive (about £25 each, I think), but you expect it to be a long-term investment. We could be living with the result for 10-15 years! More manufacturers were still joining in when we took the plunge, and I think prices have dropped further, but the quality still varies. Best bet is to read a pile of amazon reviews (my husband actually signed for free trial of Which? For the occasion!), because you want to get the colour and brightness that's right for you.

You can get LED replacements. look at this site but loads of places sell them.

(We replaced all the lightbulbs on our Motorhome with LED bulbs so can run for days with a small solar panel and no electric hook-up needed)

omg, thank you so much for this! Google did not help me with this but MN can, brilliant.

I take your point about our bulbs not lasting as long as they should, wonky. It wouldn't surprise me if some dodgy cowboy did the kitchen electrics like the rest of the sodding house. First stop is to try some replacement bulbs though!

one more question, how can I tell which wattage to buy? We inherited the lights from previous owners so don't have the official instructions.

I just looked at that site Millways, and there's a few to choose from.

does this chart help? Just google "LED equivalent Halogen" and their are loads of similar.

On that LED Hut site, if you click on a bulb and go to "full description" it shows you the "Equivalent for" of a Halogen. They also have a freephone helpline.

Take out one of the bulbs to see what is there now - I'd guess it's a 50w and then google what the LED equivalent is.
LED bulbs have the added complication of having a colour temperature as well as a wattage - I would recommend going for ones described as 'warm white' rather than cool/cold.

sorry, I didn't explain properly, we've been putting 50w in so can we assume that's ok? just keep putting 50w in?

I only ask because we had a (beautiful) light shade melt on us and realised it should've only had 60w not 100w old fashioned light bulb. Can we just go as bright as we want with this kind?

Problems usually come that way round, when a bulb is overpowered for the fitting, and just throws out too much heat. That's not going to be a problem with LEDs, so you can relax on that front. We've got 4W LEDs in our four-way kitchen spot, and it's loads bright enough.

We just had an electrician in this week to change 20 halogen fittings to LED. In lounge, hallway and kitchen. We also have high ceilings, and were totally fed up of the halogen ones going. And for us, having inherited from previous owners, often you couldn't change the bulb as the transformer had gone. Our house is now really bright and I look forward to years of not having to touch them.

Brilliant, I've just ordered a load and will chuck away the step ladders with glee