Such A Pain To Shop For Led Down Lights?!

[albertchng 0]

...

How do you check that the LED is driven by an efficient circuit?

You cant, unless you build the circuit yourself, like those regulated circuit build for weapon light, cannot afford the light to get dimmer every passing minute.

[albertchng 0]

I've heard people say bad things about Philips LEDs as an example from personal experiences. They could have singled out other brands, but Philips is THE one who got the blame because they just malfunctioned earlier than expected.

But it's easy to misquote of course. Just because someone's expensive brand electronics gadget breaks down by law of probability, it is easy to stereotype that brand is lousy! But that experience could be a rare one.

Those people saying bad thing about Philips LED are the one that like to cut corner, not surprise they use Philips LED bulb with brand-less housing, brand-less driver and use brand-less dimmer with it. Go lightings.com.sg at Jalan Besar branch (same building as MacDonald) to check out the actual Philips Ledino downlight, comes with 2 years warranty but they are not cheap.

If you are not going to on it 12 hours a day, you should not be looking at LED at all, unless you are in for face value or to show off at the expense of your pocket/wallet.

[Erwinong 0]

You cant, unless you build the circuit yourself, like those regulated circuit build for weapon light, cannot afford the light to get dimmer every passing minute.

That's the problem... Cos we are all consumers, not some lighting QC inspectors or electrical engineers doing research. We wouldn't know how well the LEDs were built. I've visited too many shops and they all give different views on LED vs energy saving downlights. About half will say PLC lights are brighter. The others will say LEDs are brighter.

And most of them are actually not lying with the lights there to prove. For those who said they have brighter PLC lights, that's because their LED downlights could be of inferior quality and cannot produce the brightness that they should have. Those who said LEDs are brighter than PLCs... well, they may have good LED lights.

So that's where the confusion comes in. Initially, when I encountered this difference of opinion, I was shocked. I was like... Who's telling the truth?! And as I mentioned, the difficult part is that there is no scientific way to compare because practically all the LED downlights are brandless and built differently. Some are just better than the others.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Erwinong

[Erwinong 0]

If you are not going to on it 12 hours a day, you should not be looking at LED at all, unless you are in for face value or to show off at the expense of your pocket/wallet.

Not really. I doubt most home owners will turn on their general lights for so long. Assuming the typical working adult comes home at 7pm, and goes to bed at midnight, that's an average of 5 hours only. You just need a longer time to reap the monetary benefits of lower electrical bills.

The benefits of LEDs can be enjoyed by everyone. Of course, if you turn on the lights longer per day (like if you operate a shop fitted with LEDs), you will break even faster on the higher initial cost of buying LEDs.

[collins 0]

Feel free to contact me. I can solve all your problems and answer all your doubts about LED lights.

LED is a much more sophisticated lightsource than conventional lighting. Optical design, LED layout, heat management, colour temperature, driver circuit, quality of power supply, component grade and assembly process etc. many factors contribute to the overall quality and performance of LED lights. Furthermore, a successful implementation of LED light requires someone who really understand the characteristic of each type of lighting which is not limited only to LED, but conventional lighting as well. The choice of suitable lightsource, selection of colour temperature and wattage as well as the location of installation must be carefully contemplated and planned to create the desired lighting effect for the space.

Get everything done right, LED lights offer many benefits in the long run and its versatility is of immense assistance to creative interior design. Believe me, doing your lighting right is the cheapest investment to transform and upgrade the class of your interior design.

Edited November 25, 2011 by collins

[terrygerrard 1]

What's the difference between LED and halogen?

LED has constrain on beam angle whereby halogen do not have this issue.

but in term of power saving LED is better.

whether china made or branded ade. assembled still in china.

must see the actual product and get a feel and lighting effect.

LED won't spoil in a year, normally is driver that give way first.

If still doubtful, feel free to pm me. no issue.

I'm in LED industrial, i not hard selling. Want to share the knowledge and when you guys wanto purchase LED won't get con.

just email at terryteo@prime-light.com

Edited November 30, 2011 by terrygerrard

[WangZhiQiang 0]

Actually i recommend u to go Holly lighting @ geylang lor 31. worth to take a look with reasonable price..... i just bought mine there.

[Bulletproof 0]

I went about choosing my LED lights with the initial headache you are faced with.

TMI - too much information is akin to having too many cooks, which will spoil the soup....

I decided to get the better choice quickly by way of elimination (the better choice quickly over the best choice, which may come never)

rule 1. even made in China products can be good! What is not made there now?

rule 2. all products lines have pros and cons. choose which is your priority to favor. the rest are just bonuses.

rule 3. branded usually is better, due to easier to replace, generally more reliability, and the supplying shop has more obligations to you.

rule 4. accept made in China products!

in the end, i went with Samsung LED lights. they can be dimmed, consume soooo little energy. easy to install, easy to replace. standardized parts. my maintenance of all my lights should be a breeze.

LEDs have tons of pros. dimmed when its near end of lifespan?

well, what about it being not heat generating in the first place as opposed to Halogen lamps? the heat alone .... turn on the fan, turn on the aircon.

anyway, my point was, making the better choice soon is better than keeping my head spinning hearing all the differing stories. I got very very good prices for my lights and the dimmers, switches, electrical wiring to boot too! very happy.

Oh i forgot to add this bit > Ordering your lights online? Oh no... don't. not a good idea at all.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Bulletproof

[kalimantan 6]

here is my take now.

I agreed with all the headache, after all, i am just a consumer , not a specialist in led.

All i need to know is

a) LED is in in the long run, like it or not. Everyone knows the advantage, etc

b) which biz do not out-source to china ? ipad design in california, but production line is in china.

c) agreed with statements made by bullet-proof.

But want to add one more thing

1) LED technology changes. Say today i got this LED brightness at $x. 5 years down the road, it will have better brightness, but still cost $x. In another words, it is like intel chip improving its performance at the old same cost we paid or lesser !

I suggest getting a professional to go to your apartment and let them take necessary measurements and proposals. Then after that, go to their shop and detemine the brightness that you plan to buy.

As long as it works, who cares right ? No need to save every penny since you buying LED, you can never win the industry since most of us are consumers. All you need is to get 2 or 3 professionals to quote you and then take one of the lowest quote. Period.

[designez 0]

Does not matter where it is produced...but plan ahead and make sure the LEDs can be easily replaced when the time comes.

A lot of LED lights come in an integrated package i.e. lamp and fixture are one. So you need rip out the whole thing and buy a completely new set after a couple of years.

[pegasuss 0]

Hi all, noob here but would like to ask, how many watts should I be looking at for one led downlighting? I wanted to install the 2x14w plc downlights but was thinking of changing to the led. So the question is, if I need the same brightness of 2x14w, does it means I need to get a 28w led light? Will a 12 or 13 watt suffice? Saw some shop selling those round type led. But I presume it's those strip internally as I cannot see the individual bulb. Are they bright enough ? Thanks!

[kalimantan 6]

Hi all, noob here but would like to ask, how many watts should I be looking at for one led downlighting? I wanted to install the 2x14w plc downlights but was thinking of changing to the led. So the question is, if I need the same brightness of 2x14w, does it means I need to get a 28w led light? Will a 12 or 13 watt suffice? Saw some shop selling those round type led. But I presume it's those strip internally as I cannot see the individual bulb. Are they bright enough ? Thanks!

I just installed led lights from collins company.

a) call collins direct and ask him about led. He will tell you the equivalent of this against that. Alternatively go to his shop and he will show you the different brightness.

b) there is no need to see the individual bulb. All you need is a perception of brightness and a reasonable price to pay.

[DaveConnell78 0]

Hi bro,

Is there any no. or location that i can find out for Samsung LED lights & switches? Tks in advance... Can email me at davechow78@hotmail.com. Tks

I went about choosing my LED lights with the initial headache you are faced with.

TMI - too much information is akin to having too many cooks, which will spoil the soup....

I decided to get the better choice quickly by way of elimination (the better choice quickly over the best choice, which may come never)

rule 1. even made in China products can be good! What is not made there now?

rule 2. all products lines have pros and cons. choose which is your priority to favor. the rest are just bonuses.

rule 3. branded usually is better, due to easier to replace, generally more reliability, and the supplying shop has more obligations to you.

rule 4. accept made in China products!

in the end, i went with Samsung LED lights. they can be dimmed, consume soooo little energy. easy to install, easy to replace. standardized parts. my maintenance of all my lights should be a breeze.

LEDs have tons of pros. dimmed when its near end of lifespan?

well, what about it being not heat generating in the first place as opposed to Halogen lamps? the heat alone .... turn on the fan, turn on the aircon.

anyway, my point was, making the better choice soon is better than keeping my head spinning hearing all the differing stories. I got very very good prices for my lights and the dimmers, switches, electrical wiring to boot too! very happy.

Oh i forgot to add this bit > Ordering your lights online? Oh no... don't. not a good idea at all.

[erwin123 0]

Hi, I did a full reno last year and have installed various LED lights in MR16 and GU10 fittings.

Brightness. I have measured with my camera's spot meter and this is a safe bet:

20w halogen = "4w" LED 4 x 1w chips / 3 x 2w chips

35w halogen = "7w" LED 4 x 2w chips

50w halogen slightly brighter than "9w" LED 3 x 3w chips

I say "4/7/9w" in inverted commas because they may be driven at a lower wattage. For example, think the Philips 7w is 4x2w chips.

However, the beam angle of most LEDs is in the 30-45 degree range, less than a regular halogen, in other words LEDs brightness cheats a little bit by having narrower beam angle. In some applications, you may want to install 60 degree beam angle LEDs, but these are no easy to find in Singapore - ebay is your answer!

Because I like to experiment, my GU10/MR16s are from Choo Chiang (Optiled 3.5w and 5w versions), Philips Master 4w and 7w versions, and my latest favourite from Ebayer Smartopled 3 x 3w CREE because their default beam angle is 45 and seems wider than the 30-38 degree of some locally available LEDs and you can also ask them for 60 degree beam angle.

But things to note are some MR16 LEDs may be 'oversized. I have no problem with 3x3w CREEs in my ceiling downlights fixtures, but for an IKEA MR16 spotlight I have, the 3x3w are a few mm too tall and only regular 4w opitleds fit....

[abahq 0]

I went about choosing my LED lights with the initial headache you are faced with.

TMI - too much information is akin to having too many cooks, which will spoil the soup....

I decided to get the better choice quickly by way of elimination (the better choice quickly over the best choice, which may come never)

rule 1. even made in China products can be good! What is not made there now?

rule 2. all products lines have pros and cons. choose which is your priority to favor. the rest are just bonuses.

rule 3. branded usually is better, due to easier to replace, generally more reliability, and the supplying shop has more obligations to you.

rule 4. accept made in China products!

in the end, i went with Samsung LED lights. they can be dimmed, consume soooo little energy. easy to install, easy to replace. standardized parts. my maintenance of all my lights should be a breeze.

LEDs have tons of pros. dimmed when its near end of lifespan?

well, what about it being not heat generating in the first place as opposed to Halogen lamps? the heat alone .... turn on the fan, turn on the aircon.

anyway, my point was, making the better choice soon is better than keeping my head spinning hearing all the differing stories. I got very very good prices for my lights and the dimmers, switches, electrical wiring to boot too! very happy.

Oh i forgot to add this bit > Ordering your lights online? Oh no... don't. not a good idea at all.

Hi Bulletproof,

I'm interested to know about Samsung led lights. Where can I find the shop or showroom or contacts pls. Btw how is the beam angle and luminance bright enuff for u?