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Basic Lighting Question - Halogen/normal to LED conversion
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<blockquote data-quote="Richard-the-Ninth" data-source="post: 523058" data-attributes="member: 23472"><p>In reverse order.</p><p>Any GU10 LED lamp will be ok, it is as you suggest a straight swap, but do change them in the day with the lights off.</p><p></p><p></p><p>MR16 lamps are 12v and the mains being 230v ac you need something to transform the 230vac to 12vac so you will find that your lights have "transformers" </p><p></p><p>Examples: (I made the money figures up)</p><p>20watt lamp needs 20+ watt transformer (Say £7 each)</p><p>6 x 20 w lamps require 6 transformers = £42</p><p></p><p>Enter the big 150 w transformer it costs £21</p><p></p><p>You can figure the rest yourself.</p><p></p><p>So in an ideal world each lamp has its own transformer, but not every lamp has. It sounds like your garage has one big transformer.</p><p></p><p>Now for the spanner in the works.</p><p>LED lamps require DC current to work properly (Halogen lamps work with AC or DC) "Transformers" are not really transformers, they are electronic voltage reducers, the output from them is neither true DC or AC. (You need not worry about the why, it is just the way they work) So to run an LED MR16 is possible, it's just that it will not last as long as it could if it was run on pure DC which you can get if you have an "LED Driver" Again preference is one driver for each lamp. </p><p></p><p>As an aside, Transformers have a minimum and maximum rating. e.g. 20w Min 150w max so if you were to connect 6 x 3w LED lamps the transformer will not work as it only sees 18w, but if you add a 20w halogen it now sees 38w so it will work, but the LED lamps will not last as long, as previously mentioned.</p><p></p><p>Some folk take the best route which is to have all the light fittings changed to ones that accept GU10 lamps, no drivers or transformers required. (Some re wiring may be needed.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richard-the-Ninth, post: 523058, member: 23472"] In reverse order. Any GU10 LED lamp will be ok, it is as you suggest a straight swap, but do change them in the day with the lights off. MR16 lamps are 12v and the mains being 230v ac you need something to transform the 230vac to 12vac so you will find that your lights have "transformers" Examples: (I made the money figures up) 20watt lamp needs 20+ watt transformer (Say £7 each) 6 x 20 w lamps require 6 transformers = £42 Enter the big 150 w transformer it costs £21 You can figure the rest yourself. So in an ideal world each lamp has its own transformer, but not every lamp has. It sounds like your garage has one big transformer. Now for the spanner in the works. LED lamps require DC current to work properly (Halogen lamps work with AC or DC) "Transformers" are not really transformers, they are electronic voltage reducers, the output from them is neither true DC or AC. (You need not worry about the why, it is just the way they work) So to run an LED MR16 is possible, it's just that it will not last as long as it could if it was run on pure DC which you can get if you have an "LED Driver" Again preference is one driver for each lamp. As an aside, Transformers have a minimum and maximum rating. e.g. 20w Min 150w max so if you were to connect 6 x 3w LED lamps the transformer will not work as it only sees 18w, but if you add a 20w halogen it now sees 38w so it will work, but the LED lamps will not last as long, as previously mentioned. Some folk take the best route which is to have all the light fittings changed to ones that accept GU10 lamps, no drivers or transformers required. (Some re wiring may be needed.) [/QUOTE]
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