What LED downlights (retrofit) would you recommend in 2016?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › What LED downlights (retrofit) would you recommend in 2016?

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#1650552 13-Oct-2016 16:32

We replaced most of our scummy downlights with the Lons 4000K from Lighting Direct. If you buy them on special (which they have nearly as often as Briscoes) it works out about $30 each including driver. They are the exact same size as the existing downlights, so it takes <10 minutes per light to swap them in.

We haven't tried the dimmable ones, but the ones we have are great. We've had them for about 6 months now in the lounge and no problems or colour shift as yet, and these would have the most use of any in the house. Wife likes the 4000K, its a bright sunny day white, I installed them in the garage and at one point later that week rushed down to find out why the garage door was open when it wasn't.

spronkey

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#1650981 14-Oct-2016 12:02

I can't recommend you a specific light, but I can recommend you against:

- Rexel RX Lighting 10W Downlights
- DETA branded downlights from Bunnings

Both of the above have flicker issues, even worse when on dimmers.

richms

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#1650982 14-Oct-2016 12:04

Which detas did you have flicker with? Ive got some that I have not put up yet because lazy, but tested 4 of them on a powerstrip on a dimmer and they worked fine for me. They are 6000k or something awefully blue tho which is why they are going outside in the eaves.

Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

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#1651010 14-Oct-2016 12:28

4000k is cool white or day light so is cold. You will find lighting professionals will usually recommend 3000k for homes. 4000l is good for retail or where you are working and need a crisp light. But not a great color for bedrooms as it is a color that makes your brain thinks it is daytime when you are getting ready to sleep

spronkey

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#1651011 14-Oct-2016 12:29

richms:

Which detas did you have flicker with? Ive got some that I have not put up yet because lazy, but tested 4 of them on a powerstrip on a dimmer and they worked fine for me. They are 6000k or something awefully blue tho which is why they are going outside in the eaves.

Both the current 12W model with integrated driver (https://www.bunnings.co.nz/deta-dimmable-led-downlight-12w-warm-white_p04390429), 12W, and the previous 12W model with separate driver (DET592 in cool white), mine are both warm white. Dome shaped back on them.

I have tried 6 of these lights on PDL654 universal, HPM LeGrand EM400A3PWE push button, Kiwi K005U. The Detas only dim to about 50% on the PDL, 30% on the HPM. They get right down on the Kiwi but start flickering quite a lot at below 20%. I've tried both leading and trailing edge modes on the Kiwi - the leading edge mode is definitely the smoothest.

Flicker with these lights is more of an intermittent "what was that?" kind of flicker - a periodic fluttering every now and then. Happens at any dimming level and drives me absolutely nuts.

My house is a 1960s house and the circuit wiring is only 2 wire, so not sure if that has any affect on the dimming performance, but the dimmer itself is only 2 wire anyway.

richms

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#1651012 14-Oct-2016 12:32

There are fluros called cool white that are 4000k, but its generally regarded as a neutral white nowdays, daylight is 6500k and is the blue one.

It seems to be a very American thing to prefer the 2700k - 3000k lighting inside, whereas in Asia its more common to have 5000k or higher. I cant stand orange because it makes everything look drab, boring and dirty looking.

Mitre10 have some nice $10 GE 4000k screw and bayonet lamps that I have put into the table lamps which makes them match which is much nicer than having the horrid orange ones in them since it was hard to find 4000k in screw/bc lamps. Still no e14 ones tho so a couple are still orange.

Richard rich.ms

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richms

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#1651018 14-Oct-2016 12:36

spronkey:

Both the current 12W model with integrated driver (https://www.bunnings.co.nz/deta-dimmable-led-downlight-12w-warm-white_p04390429), 12W, and the previous 12W model with separate driver (DET592 in cool white), mine are both warm white. Dome shaped back on them.

I have tried 6 of these lights on PDL654 universal, HPM LeGrand EM400A3PWE push button, Kiwi K005U. The Detas only dim to about 50% on the PDL, 30% on the HPM. They get right down on the Kiwi but start flickering quite a lot at below 20%. I've tried both leading and trailing edge modes on the Kiwi - the leading edge mode is definitely the smoothest.

Flicker with these lights is more of an intermittent "what was that?" kind of flicker - a periodic fluttering every now and then. Happens at any dimming level and drives me absolutely nuts.

My house is a 1960s house and the circuit wiring is only 2 wire, so not sure if that has any affect on the dimming performance, but the dimmer itself is only 2 wire anyway.

Ok, mine are those, and they seemed to work ok enough for me to have 4 of them dimmed down to near nothing. This was on a deta dimmer since I just got it at the same time to test it out. I did see the odd glitch when a load turned on but that seems to be common across all dimmable lamps. Cant really help that without going dali or 0-10v which is not in my budget.

They do have horridly bad startup brightness tho. Have to get way up before they all suddenly come on, and can them dim back down again. Friend had that problem when he wanted to put a dimmer downstream of a sensor and it was forever getting turned down so low that they didn't come on when there was motion. The position that gave really reliable startup was probably over half brightness.

Richard rich.ms

bales

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#1651028 14-Oct-2016 13:08

+1 for ambius 9w 3k as per sparkys recommendation

keithbayly

mattwnz

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#1651088 14-Oct-2016 14:09

richms:

There are fluros called cool white that are 4000k, but its generally regarded as a neutral white nowdays, daylight is 6500k and is the blue one.

It seems to be a very American thing to prefer the 2700k - 3000k lighting inside, whereas in Asia its more common to have 5000k or higher. I cant stand orange because it makes everything look drab, boring and dirty looking.

Mitre10 have some nice $10 GE 4000k screw and bayonet lamps that I have put into the table lamps which makes them match which is much nicer than having the horrid orange ones in them since it was hard to find 4000k in screw/bc lamps. Still no e14 ones tho so a couple are still orange.

Only poor quality 3000k bulbs will be orange. 3000k quality LEDs are actually a cooler white that floros, and are more of a neutral light. Although most fluro warm white bulbs seem to be 2700k, which is perhaps where the orange colour comes in. But the fact is that with homes, you don't want to be flooded with daylight coloured light, you tend to have mood and task lighting at night with warmer hues. Lots of harsh colder temperature light at night is likely why so many people have sleeping disorders. It is why mobile phone makers are now using 'night mode' on their phones, which display a warmer white, which is also easier on your eyes. This is why most lighting designers will recommend 3000k lighting for homes.

mattwnz

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#1651102 14-Oct-2016 14:35

Bunnings do some retrofit LED fittings with bulbs for less than $15, think they are the Arlec brand, although they are 5w. So depends what power you need them to be. These use a GU10 bulb in them, which is user replaceable, so unlike many, you don't have to buy a new fitting when the bulb fails, where it is likely they won't have fittings that match anyway. What do people thing of the GU10 bulbs, that will run on 240 volts and don't need a driver, vs the MR 16 LED bulbs that need a driver. Is it better to buy a fitting that doesn't need a driver. Is the light quality the same power and quality on 240 volt LEDs?

acetone

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#1651105 14-Oct-2016 14:39

I am also getting my downlights replaced.

I understand the reasons why 3000k is recommend. But what do people say about having 4000k in the bathroom?

Would that be a suitable use for them or should we just get lights that output more lumens.

People talk about task lighting. In our lounge we have 8 downlights with two switches that control 4 each. Currently the 4 outer ones are slightly brighter/whiter. Is this another situation where I could put 4000k ones for the "task" lighting?

Thanks.

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richrdh18

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#1651108 14-Oct-2016 14:43

Bunnings have a Philips R80 size and shaped LED 9W bulb for about $20. I replaced all our down lights with these. yes you still have a gap into the ceiling space where there may be some heat loss but still cheaper that getting a sparky in to fit proper LED down lights. So instead to burning 1200W an hr when all the lounge, kitchen and dinning lights are on, we only burn 120W. So there is still a savings. I got some OSRAM dimmable Leds as well and they work well, although not the same shape as the R80.

mattwnz

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#1651112 14-Oct-2016 14:48

acetone:

I am also getting my downlights replaced.

I understand the reasons why 3000k is recommend. But what do people say about having 4000k in the bathroom?

Would that be a suitable use for them or should we just get lights that output more lumens.

People talk about task lighting. In our lounge we have 8 downlights with two switches that control 4 each. Currently the 4 outer ones are slightly brighter/whiter. Is this another situation where I could put 4000k ones for the "task" lighting?

Thanks.

It probably depends on the bathroom decor. You will infact find at some of the cheaper light stores, that most of the bathroom lights are only available in a cool white colour so may not be much of a choice

I just wouldn't mix and match 3000k and 4000k, as it looks bad.

Lumins and colour temperature are not really related to one another. One is temperature, and one is the amount of output. You would get a downlight with a larger lumins, eg 1500 lm, if you want more light, and your current downlighters weren't producing enough. The higher the lumins, the more expensive the light will likely be, as it uses more LEDs to produce the light.. SO the bulb is also usually larger.

Willuknight

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#1651115 14-Oct-2016 14:51

I replaced my entire house with the delta lights (over 26 of them) myself.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/deta-dimmable-led-downlight-12w-warm-white_p04390429

On trade they're about $32. Very happy with them. Each light only took me about 10min to replace once I figured it out. Yes it's legal as a homeowner to do the work yourself, so long as you're swapping like for like. Happy to answer questions about it.

wellygary

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#1651120 14-Oct-2016 14:56

richrdh18:

Bunnings have a Philips R80 size and shaped LED 9W bulb for about $20. I replaced all our down lights with these. yes you still have a gap into the ceiling space where there may be some heat loss but still cheaper that getting a sparky in to fit proper LED down lights. So instead to burning 1200W an hr when all the lounge, kitchen and dinning lights are on, we only burn 120W. So there is still a savings.

A pretty whacking one thou :), you are saving ~1000W an hour, so if you ran them 6 hours a day thats $1.50 per day, $45/month, your payback is less than 6 months!

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