On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 12:08:35 +0100,it is alleged that Tim Mitchell
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

xenon, blimey, do you really mean halogen?

Yes, halogen but with the inert gas being xenon rather than argon
(as in http://tinyurl.com/9varl ), not to be confused with a xenon arc
lamp g

[snip]

Yes, LEDs are definitely on the up. They are not as energy efficient as
the manufacturers would have you believe though.

This also is true. I am not quite sure of the circuit arrangement in
the GU10s, but blue/white LEDs have a forward voltage of around 4.5
volts, and there are 15 in the lamp, meaning the efficiency would be
highest at around 70v ac, there must be significant loss at 240v in
the dropper circuitry (I believe this to consist of a capacitor and
resistor chain). Their main advantage to me stems from the fact they
don't (short of circuit failure or large voltage spikes) have a
'single point of failure' but rather dim gradually over a period of
time. Of course, the life could be extended greatly by using twice as
many and *not* overdriving them as they do, but then the lamp
manufacturer would very shortly cease to sell very many, can't see
them doing that.

--
While theoretically and technically television may be feasible,
commercially and financially it is an impossibility.
- Lee DeForest