LED Lighting and Lamps
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are a fast evolving, high technology light source. The primary benefits of LED based lighting are energy efficiency, very low heat output, long life (up to fifty years!), minimal maintenance and pure, saturated colours. Using approximately 3% of the wattage of an equivalent incandescent bulb, LEDs are a great replacement for halogen lamps as they are up to 95% more energy efficient and create virtually no heat. They are also better for the environment as they contain no mercury and due to their high life expectancy there is less disposable waste.
They can be used indoors or outdoors and are perfect for situations where lights are left on for extended periods of time and ideal for accent and effects lighting. The bright, white light produced by white LED lamps is closer to the colour of daylight, which recent studies suggest is good for staying alert.
LEDs not only produce light more efficiently, they also have a tiny mirror that reflects light in one direction so work especially well for task lighting and reading light. A more directed light means less wasted light.
LED lamps are available in 12V and 240V. We do not recommend that low voltage halogen lamps and LED lamps are run on the same transformer or on the same or adjacent electrical circuits. For optimum performance and longevity we recommend that MR11 and MR16 LED lamps are connected to a Power Driver or a toroidal transformer. These lamps will also work with a majority of electronic transformers but with approx 1/2 life span.
The range and quality of LEDs are improving all the time and are probably a lot brighter than you might imagine. When choosing LED lamps it is important to look at the overall light output of each lamp to decide whether the light source will give you the required amount of illumination.
You really do get what you pay for with LED technology and the cheapest LED lamps are best suited for ideal for accent and effects lighting . If you would like to use LED bulbs to replace halogen for example they will cost £15-30 each for up to 50W equivalent but will only use 3-5W of power and last many, many years.
Not dimmable unless stated.
These lamps are not subject to the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations) recycling charge as set by the lamp manufacturers.
