Possible For Led Downlights To Cost $110-120?

[Erwinong 0]

I was quoted by a lighting shop for LED downlight for living room. It's about $110-120 per piece. Seems like pricey but was told it's better than the Made in China type.

Is it that expensive to buy a good quality LED downlight? The shop somehow refuses to tell me the actual wattage. Said something like it's variable wattage. Definitely bright enough and will look nice. I was like HUH? Got such a thing as actual wattage can vary?

There are so many different brands and wattage from different shops. How do you all choose?

Thanks....

[bro 28]

I was quoted by a lighting shop for LED downlight for living room. It's about $110-120 per piece. Seems like pricey but was told it's better than the Made in China type.

Is it that expensive to buy a good quality LED downlight? The shop somehow refuses to tell me the actual wattage. Said something like it's variable wattage. Definitely bright enough and will look nice. I was like HUH? Got such a thing as actual wattage can vary?

There are so many different brands and wattage from different shops. How do you all choose?

Thanks....

Hi pal,

Okie just to share, there are dimmable downlights in the market.

If you wan a good LED downlight, then go for those that bear the safety mark.

At least you know that it's safety tested and it's more reliable.

Hope this helps.

pal

[folwer 0]

Does it includes workmenship? Would say it would be a good price if it does, and seriously you wouldn't be able to know if it has the safetly mark unless you inspect the lights before he install

[Jiahor 0]

I was quoted by a lighting shop for LED downlight for living room. It's about $110-120 per piece. Seems like pricey but was told it's better than the Made in China type.

Is it that expensive to buy a good quality LED downlight? The shop somehow refuses to tell me the actual wattage. Said something like it's variable wattage. Definitely bright enough and will look nice. I was like HUH? Got such a thing as actual wattage can vary?

There are so many different brands and wattage from different shops. How do you all choose?

Thanks....

Good LED light and china LED light also will spoilt , good LED light , the material also from china haha

[Erwinong 0]

thanks everyone for the reply.

folwer, when you said workmanship, you mean installation? that one is done by electrician.

wow, i didn't know LED downlights so expensive?

I don't quite believe the shop. Once installed, can i check the brand or anything by removing the LED light from the ceiling?

[bro 28]

Does it includes workmenship? Would say it would be a good price if it does, and seriously you wouldn't be able to know if it has the safetly mark unless you inspect the lights before he install

For the safety mark, dun have to wait till you're about to install then check/inspect, it'll be too late.

U can always ask the salesperson whether is it safety tested wf safety mark or not...

If there is safety mark the saleperson would gladly show you the safety mark.

Unless it's a non safety tested, then it'll not bear the safety mark.

The safety mark will be clearly displayed on the rating label or on the box itself.

Hope this

pal

[neubie 2]

go for megaman. currently the market leader in commercial, industrial and residential LED solutions.

[whisper 0]

Better think about how many downlights do you need.

I bought philips downlight ard $46/pcs and the final bill cost over thousand dollars exclude hanging pendants/chandelier. I can't imagine if I buy the $110 downlight from the shop you visited...

Edited November 3, 2011 by whisper

[Erwinong 0]

Thanks "bro" for the safety mark advice.

whisper, what you bought is just the downlight bulb? Does it come with the cover and transformer or have to be separately bought?

Oh by the way, there are different ratings on the LEDs. How do you all gauge which wattage is sufficient for say, living room? The shop guy told me it's 14W LED downlight. Is there such a high rating?

Edited November 3, 2011 by Erwinong

[folwer 0]

Watt is just the power consumption of the bulb....2 bulb can have identical wattage, but different brightness....

A better gauge to compare bulbs would be it's lumens....but that is just touching the surface....other factors that are equally interesting are:

- color spectrum of the light with lower k giving warmer color

- the spread of the light, led tends to cover a smaller spread, so even with higher lumens, without the proper diffuser you will still not be able to brighten up the room evenly

- for non-uni-direction lights, quality of reflector also play an important role.....reflectors that are coated with silver can reportly boost light output by 20%

So seriously to get into the tech part of this is complicated. I find it's easier to depend on the experience of the installer ...

[Erwinong 0]

Hey thanks for filling me in with the technical details.

Yes, I agree, but all these technical explanations will not make sense when it comes to purchasing the LED lights. I can't possibly go into the shop and ask what sort of reflector they use inside, and not all shops will have the ability to show you the lumens. They'll probably ask me to leave the shop.

But what I do know is, comparing apples for apples, a 10W LED light will be brighter than 7W of the same brand.

This shop told me they are using an in-house LED that is 14W. I felt a bit doubtful.... Now I'm told it has no brand at all. Is there a way I can check how good it is? Or verify it's really 14W? As far as I know LED lamps don't come in higher wattage than 10W. Am I right?

Watt is just the power consumption of the bulb....2 bulb can have identical wattage, but different brightness....

A better gauge to compare bulbs would be it's lumens....but that is just touching the surface....other factors that are equally interesting are:

- color spectrum of the light with lower k giving warmer color

- the spread of the light, led tends to cover a smaller spread, so even with higher lumens, without the proper diffuser you will still not be able to brighten up the room evenly

- for non-uni-direction lights, quality of reflector also play an important role.....reflectors that are coated with silver can reportly boost light output by 20%

So seriously to get into the tech part of this is complicated. I find it's easier to depend on the experience of the installer ...

[whisper 0]

No. The price per pcs is for the whole thing. There are two sizes available for each different casing type of philips downlight. Smaller size comes with only 1x14W bulb while the bigger one comes with 2x14W bulbs. We bought the bigger one because we want sufficient brightness to the area while reducing the number of downlights install on the false ceiling.

Reason is hardly on all together at one go so trying to save cost on wiring point & installation.

Survey each of your room, think where you gonna put your furniture, understand your reading habits or any activities at home that required enough lighting source. After that bring your floor plan or your tentative lighting placement plan when doing shopping for lighting.

By plotting the lighting point on the floor plan, you might thought you need more lighting to fill in the blank. But when you study the plan to actual site, you might find out some lighting points are too near to each other which can be omitted.

whisper, what you bought is just the downlight bulb? Does it come with the cover and transformer or have to be separately bought?

[folwer 0]

Hey thanks for filling me in with the technical details.

Yes, I agree, but all these technical explanations will not make sense when it comes to purchasing the LED lights. I can't possibly go into the shop and ask what sort of reflector they use inside, and not all shops will have the ability to show you the lumens. They'll probably ask me to leave the shop.

But what I do know is, comparing apples for apples, a 10W LED light will be brighter than 7W of the same brand.

This shop told me they are using an in-house LED that is 14W. I felt a bit doubtful.... Now I'm told it has no brand at all. Is there a way I can check how good it is? Or verify it's really 14W? As far as I know LED lamps don't come in higher wattage than 10W. Am I right?

like i say, you have to depend on the experience of the installer, so i guess reputation is important... the things i have pointed out are scientific parameters, actually I doubt most shops can even tell you what they mean, for me, the 'old man' doing the installation was able to provide a better solution to me vs details like kelvins or lumens (something he doesn't understand)......don't just focus on the bulb, things like the driver for the light, the fixture, the reflectors the color of the room all come into play, with the wattage only determining how much you pay the electric bill.....

basically, you should place more emphasis on the installer then the parameters of the bulb....these are quite useless when taken in the context of the entire project....

what whisper says about plotting the light points are quite right if you are into these things....but again, an experience contractor only need one look to advise you accordingly.....

(PS: don't ask me the contact of the installer as he is a sub-con of the ID, it's only i had a pleasant conversation with him and feels that his advise seems to match up to what i know about lights...)

Edited November 4, 2011 by folwer

[Erwinong 0]

Folwer:

Seems like yours is a good installer. Unfortunately, I cannot control who I get to install the lights.

My concern now is not so much who installs the lights, but more of what kind of LED downlights I should get. There are different brands, different wattages. And is there such a thing as 14W LED lights? I don't wish to be cheated by the shop. They are charging $125 per LED downlight set! Although the full warranty is 3 years extended.

Whisper: It sounds to me the downlight you got uses energy-saving bulbs, not LEDs. That's because I've seen the Philips bulbs which are of your kind of configuration.

Anyway, it's really confusing going into all these lighting stuffs. Over here, I read some recommending LED downlights for their cost-savings. But when I go to the shops, generally the people there tell me to go for the energy-saving, non-LED lights. I was given a comparison and indeed, the energy saving kind is a lot brighter which makes the place nicer and good if you want the lights for reading and entertaining guests. The LED ones (already the brightest available) looked pretty weak beside them. Unless that's the intention of the home owner?

Moreover, the shop owner said although most people think LEDs help to save $$$, it's only in the VERY long run perhaps. Because for our homes, we don't turn on the lights continuously for long. And LEDs do spoil too. The cost of changing them may erase whatever other savings you may get from LEDs.

Headache man! How to decide... Please help!

like i say, you have to depend on the experience of the installer, so i guess reputation is important... the things i have pointed out are scientific parameters, actually I doubt most shops can even tell you what they mean, for me, the 'old man' doing the installation was able to provide a better solution to me vs details like kelvins or lumens (something he doesn't understand)......don't just focus on the bulb, things like the driver for the light, the fixture, the reflectors the color of the room all come into play, with the wattage only determining how much you pay the electric bill.....

basically, you should place more emphasis on the installer then the parameters of the bulb....these are quite useless when taken in the context of the entire project....

what whisper says about plotting the light points are quite right if you are into these things....but again, an experience contractor only need one look to advise you accordingly.....

(PS: don't ask me the contact of the installer as he is a sub-con of the ID, it's only i had a pleasant conversation with him and feels that his advise seems to match up to what i know about lights...)

Edited November 4, 2011 by Erwinong

[folwer 0]

i dun know what your intention in, but for me, I only do LED for my Living room, Kitchen area. Even in the living room, i do have the option of turning on the hidden tubes in the false celling to create a type of nice ambience to the room.

The reason I put LED only in Kitchen and living room is that these are places that the light will be on most of the time. The LED i got is those high intensity ones with 6w slightly dimmer then the common 2x13W to light up the area. Thus, they will actually save more electricity in the long run. I also pick LED for these area because PLC will actually dim over time and I kinda hate changing tubes every 4 years.....LED on the other hand is not suppose to dim and is suppose to last much much longer (however, I only used it for a year, so can't tell if this claim is true).

So my suggestion is to determine that you want before making the decision.....