GU10 Mains Halogens
 

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4 GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3 quid
......

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98 ......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4 GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3 quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98 ......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)




--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)



..... you may well be right - only time will tell!

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour units,
with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life - all
glass units.

Slurp

"Slurp" wrote in message
...
Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
.......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Thanks. I'm just about to buy a few.

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:02:26 +0100,it is alleged that "Slurp"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour units,
with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life - all
glass units.

Hmm, I should tell this to the ceramic base one that blew with less
than 1 week of normal use on it :(

OTOH, it spurred me to get the LED GU10s, they are *very* blue, even
the ones specified as 'bluish white' but more than adequate for
general room lighting and use close to unmeasurably small amounts of
power.

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

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4 GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3 quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98 ......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

IME the better s/fix ones (branded Osram IIRC) do actually last.
The cheaper ones don't.

If you are a man with some time available then it should be possible to
buy a batch of bulbs and prove the 2000 hours is a lie. Then get trading
standards to take on B&Q and Tesco.

It's outside of my knowledge of statistics but does anyone know how many
bulbs you would have to get and how short their lives would have to be to
get, say, 99% certain that the bulb are being misrepresented? How certain
would you have to be to put the matter 'beyond reasonable doubt'?




--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

In article t, Chip
wrote:
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:02:26 +0100,it is alleged that "Slurp"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour
units, with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life
- all glass units.

Hmm, I should tell this to the ceramic base one that blew with less than 1
week of normal use on it :(

OTOH, it spurred me to get the LED GU10s, they are *very* blue, even the
ones specified as 'bluish white' but more than adequate for general room
lighting and use close to unmeasurably small amounts of power.

Where do you get LED GU10s and at what price? Can you mix 'n' match 'ordinary'
and LED GU10s on the same fixture to give a mix ofblue and ordinary yellow
light?

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 21:38:26 +0100, Ed Sirett
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:



What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

IME the better s/fix ones (branded Osram IIRC) do actually last.
The cheaper ones don't.

If you are a man with some time available then it should be possible to
buy a batch of bulbs and prove the 2000 hours is a lie. Then get trading
standards to take on B&Q and Tesco.

It's outside of my knowledge of statistics but does anyone know how many
bulbs you would have to get and how short their lives would have to be to
get, say, 99% certain that the bulb are being misrepresented? How certain
would you have to be to put the matter 'beyond reasonable doubt'?

Yes. I've had some of the bulk packed own label ones from B&Q
before, and fitted three of them and then three Osram ones.

The B&Q ones failed within a day or two of each other, and the Osram
ones lasted about three times as long.




--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In message , Slurp
writes
Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4 GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3 quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98 ......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

I got a flyer yesterday - 27p each also guaranteed lifetime

the only problem is that you have to buy 1000

So you get some idea of how much mark up there was on your bargain


--
geoff

"Peter" wrote in message
...
I got a flyer yesterday - 27p each also guaranteed lifetime
the only problem is that you have to buy 1000

Are you serious?

For what it's worth I have a few of these in my kitchen and I guess
they last an average of 20-100 hours each - quite absurd. They are in
no way overheated or exposed to shock or excess voltage. If it wasn't
for the fact that I can get major brands for one pound each and I am
lazy I would ditch them tomorrow.

So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps. So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

In message , Peter
writes
I got a flyer yesterday - 27p each also guaranteed lifetime
the only problem is that you have to buy 1000

Are you serious?

Absolutely, I can fax it to you if you really want


For what it's worth I have a few of these in my kitchen and I guess
they last an average of 20-100 hours each - quite absurd. They are in
no way overheated or exposed to shock or excess voltage. If it wasn't
for the fact that I can get major brands for one pound each and I am
lazy I would ditch them tomorrow.



--
geoff

In message ws.net,
Doctor Drivel writes

"Peter" wrote in message
.. .
I got a flyer yesterday - 27p each also guaranteed lifetime
the only problem is that you have to buy 1000

Are you serious?

For what it's worth I have a few of these in my kitchen and I guess
they last an average of 20-100 hours each - quite absurd. They are in
no way overheated or exposed to shock or excess voltage. If it wasn't
for the fact that I can get major brands for one pound each and I am
lazy I would ditch them tomorrow.

So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps. So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

Bloody hell, a dIMM calculation



--
geoff

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98 ......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

Reminds me of the coffee machine I bought from Makro at GBP 14.99. The
packaging stated "makes 12 cups".

Sure enough it made 12 cups.

Mr F.

raden wrote:


I got a flyer yesterday - 27p each also guaranteed lifetime

the only problem is that you have to buy 1000


If you want to share them around I'd take a couple of hundred, pro rata.

In article t, Chip
writes
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:02:26 +0100,it is alleged that "Slurp"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour units,
with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life - all
glass units.

Hmm, I should tell this to the ceramic base one that blew with less
than 1 week of normal use on it :(

OTOH, it spurred me to get the LED GU10s, they are *very* blue, even
the ones specified as 'bluish white' but more than adequate for
general room lighting and use close to unmeasurably small amounts of
power.

Are they really bright enough? the ones I have seen are not very bright
at all - probably about 10% of a real GU10. They are nice if you want
pretty-pretty but not much good for lighting anything up.
--
Tim Mitchell

"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps. So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

Now do the same for the "one boiler would fill the baths in the whole
street" calculation.


--

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 21:48:33 +0100,it is alleged that John Cartmell
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

In article t, Chip
wrote:
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:02:26 +0100,it is alleged that "Slurp"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour
units, with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life
- all glass units.

Hmm, I should tell this to the ceramic base one that blew with less than 1
week of normal use on it :(

OTOH, it spurred me to get the LED GU10s, they are *very* blue, even the
ones specified as 'bluish white' but more than adequate for general room
lighting and use close to unmeasurably small amounts of power.

Where do you get LED GU10s and at what price? Can you mix 'n' match 'ordinary'
and LED GU10s on the same fixture to give a mix ofblue and ordinary yellow
light?

TLC electrical for around 6 pounds each. (less than their list price,
don't know how come that happened and didn't ask g )

Yes you can mix and match them, the light output is dim compared with
a 50W, and only a little dimmer than a 20W, if this helps.

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

On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 08:45:33 +0100,it is alleged that Tim Mitchell
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

Are they really bright enough? the ones I have seen are not very bright
at all - probably about 10% of a real GU10. They are nice if you want
pretty-pretty but not much good for lighting anything up.

The ones I have are very slightly dimmer than a 20W Halogen. I agree
them not being bright enough on their own for most purposes, but
for our conservatory they seem to work fine. Being LED they are _very_
directional compared to even the narrow beam halogens, but after over
a week of them, I think I like them.

We have 2 fixtures in the 'leanto' conservatory (about 18ft by 8ft),
one at each end. One end contains the dining table, that has retained
its 3x50w Xenon lamps, and the other end with the TV has the 3x1.8w
LEDs. They provide fairly reasonable functional light without too much
glare.

I would agree with the fact that right now, they are best in most
cases for 'accent' lighting, we were unusual in only requiring a
fairly low level of light. Give it another couple of years and I
expect they'll be as good as compact fluorescents.

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

In article t, Chip
writes
On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 08:45:33 +0100,it is alleged that Tim Mitchell
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

Are they really bright enough? the ones I have seen are not very bright
at all - probably about 10% of a real GU10. They are nice if you want
pretty-pretty but not much good for lighting anything up.

The ones I have are very slightly dimmer than a 20W Halogen. I agree
them not being bright enough on their own for most purposes, but
for our conservatory they seem to work fine. Being LED they are _very_
directional compared to even the narrow beam halogens, but after over
a week of them, I think I like them.

We have 2 fixtures in the 'leanto' conservatory (about 18ft by 8ft),
one at each end. One end contains the dining table, that has retained
its 3x50w Xenon lamps, and the other end with the TV has the 3x1.8w
LEDs. They provide fairly reasonable functional light without too much
glare.
xenon, blimey, do you really mean halogen?

I would agree with the fact that right now, they are best in most
cases for 'accent' lighting, we were unusual in only requiring a
fairly low level of light. Give it another couple of years and I
expect they'll be as good as compact fluorescents.

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

"Matt" wrote in message
...
"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their
homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of
these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you
have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps.
So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

Now do the same for the "one boiler would fill the baths in the whole
street" calculation.

If you don't know sums then do night classes.

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

In article ,
Tim Mitchell writes:

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

They are about the same energy efficiency as a 12V halogen
(maybe nearly twice that of a mains halogen). So the 1.8W
one mentioned (assuming that all goes into the LED's) will
be about the same light output as 3W worth of mains halogen.

LED's are very directional. The area of the spot is probably
less than 1/100th of that of a mains halogen, so if you consider
only the intensity on-beam when comparing light output, you
will be out by something over 2 orders of magnitude.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andy Hall wrote:
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4 GU1=
0's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3 =
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for =A35.98 .=
..=2E...
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

..=2Eand that the clock started ticking straight after manufacture. ;-)

"Slurp" wrote in message
...
Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
.......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ...

Not in the B&Q I passed this morning.

"Tim Mitchell" wrote in message
...
In article t, Chip
writes
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:02:26 +0100,it is alleged that "Slurp"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

I will say though that the units seem like the high quality 2000 hour
units,
with ceramic base rather than the cheaper - er I mean lesser life - all
glass units.

Hmm, I should tell this to the ceramic base one that blew with less
than 1 week of normal use on it :(

OTOH, it spurred me to get the LED GU10s, they are *very* blue, even
the ones specified as 'bluish white' but more than adequate for
general room lighting and use close to unmeasurably small amounts of
power.

Are they really bright enough? the ones I have seen are not very bright
at all - probably about 10% of a real GU10. They are nice if you want
pretty-pretty but not much good for lighting anything up.

They have them in Homebase on display, yet are not for sale. They are there
to stop people burning themselves. Yellow, blue and I think green coloured
GU10 are available in Homebase for £7 plus, for two.

"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


"Matt" wrote in message
.. .
"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their
homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of
these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you
have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps.
So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

Now do the same for the "one boiler would fill the baths in the whole
street" calculation.

If you don't know sums then do night classes.

The figures don't add up Drivel. The onus is on you to prove what you
assert otherwise it can be assumed to be total and complete lies. But
don't do it just yet as there are still 11 minutes chained to that
counter, no nipping off to the bog for a crafty leaflet read. Keep
selling those copper tanks I need you to make me even richer.

--

"Matt" wrote in message
...
"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


"Matt" wrote in message
.. .
"Doctor Drivel" wrote:


So, £270 for 1000. Many people have about 50 of these lamps in their
homes.
£270 would last a hell of a long time. So if you pay £2 for one of
these,
quite a normal price, then £270 gets you 134 of these lamps. When you
have
50, in about 3 to 4 years time you probably would spent £270 on lamps.
So,
£270 up front may be well worth while.

Now do the same for the "one boiler would fill the baths in the whole
street" calculation.

If you don't know sums then do night classes.

The figures

Yes, the figures. Duh!

"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
n.co.uk...
On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

IME the better s/fix ones (branded Osram IIRC) do actually last.
The cheaper ones don't.

If you are a man with some time available then it should be possible to
buy a batch of bulbs and prove the 2000 hours is a lie. Then get trading
standards to take on B&Q and Tesco.

It's outside of my knowledge of statistics but does anyone know how many
bulbs you would have to get and how short their lives would have to be to
get, say, 99% certain that the bulb are being misrepresented? How certain
would you have to be to put the matter 'beyond reasonable doubt'?


Don't quote me :)
.... but AIUI, the nnnn hours life is predicated
on the 50% 'Life'; one gets say 100 units and power
them 'ON' simultaneously, _when_ the 50th unit fails
that's the nnnn hour "Life". Note this doesn't mean
that _your_ bunch of things will last nnnn hours!
Someone, somewhere, somewhen will end up saying;-
'I bought these in YYYY and they've lasted eons -
while someone else is saying; - "I bought these yesterday
and they've failed already" {The retailer/manufacturer
is still saying truthfully ; 'the life is nnnn hours".

--

Brian

On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:56:21 +0000, Brian Sharrock wrote:


"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
n.co.uk...
On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about 3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ... so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

IME the better s/fix ones (branded Osram IIRC) do actually last.
The cheaper ones don't.

If you are a man with some time available then it should be possible to
buy a batch of bulbs and prove the 2000 hours is a lie. Then get trading
standards to take on B&Q and Tesco.

It's outside of my knowledge of statistics but does anyone know how many
bulbs you would have to get and how short their lives would have to be to
get, say, 99% certain that the bulb are being misrepresented? How certain
would you have to be to put the matter 'beyond reasonable doubt'?


Don't quote me :)
... but AIUI, the nnnn hours life is predicated
on the 50% 'Life'; one gets say 100 units and power
them 'ON' simultaneously, _when_ the 50th unit fails
that's the nnnn hour "Life". Note this doesn't mean
that _your_ bunch of things will last nnnn hours!
Someone, somewhere, somewhen will end up saying;-
'I bought these in YYYY and they've lasted eons -
while someone else is saying; - "I bought these yesterday
and they've failed already" {The retailer/manufacturer
is still saying truthfully ; 'the life is nnnn hours".


OK. I'm sure that if I were to buy a reasonable quantity of budget bulbs I
won't get anywhere near the figure. How short a life for the 50th bulb is
significant to prove that bulbs on average don't have the life stated?

Example:
3 years ago I bought a kitchen light fitting for one of the flats I run.
the bulbs were all out in 6 weeks. (say 8 hours a day max - winter)
That's about 350 hours tops. Since then I've replaced them once.
Even allowing for summer usage of nothing so say 4 hours a day over the
whole year. Say 18 months life (at least) say that's about 500 days at 4
hours /day = that's about 2000 hours.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

I've seen GU10'S on a site called "lighting-direct" which look the same but
actually operate using LED's.............. cost £12+vat each but supposed to
do 35,000 hours! If that's the case, they might be worth a try. Mind you, I
don't know how bright they are but bike lights that use them seem pretty
bright.

Geoff
"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
n.co.uk...
On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:56:21 +0000, Brian Sharrock wrote:


"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
n.co.uk...
On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:58:28 +0100, Andy Hall wrote:

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:32:11 +0100, "Slurp" wrote:

Fitted several of those GU10 lighting units to the kids bedrooms - 4
GU10's
in each! - after the honeymoon period of about 2 months when all the
el
cheapo GU10's that come with the units started to pop, discovered
GU10's
where about a fiver each in the local sheds...

then discovered screwfix do the cheapo 1500 hour (LOL) ones for about
3
quid
.....

then discovered Tesco's do a 'value' version (1500 hour - LOL) for
1.98.......

Today I was in the local B&Q - they are flogging six packs for £5.98
......
yep .... couldn't believe it, and they are pukka 2000 hour units ...
so
chuffed I bought two six packs.

Hope this info helps

Slurp


What they don't tell you is that it's 2000 hours total for all six :-)

IME the better s/fix ones (branded Osram IIRC) do actually last.
The cheaper ones don't.

If you are a man with some time available then it should be possible to
buy a batch of bulbs and prove the 2000 hours is a lie. Then get
trading
standards to take on B&Q and Tesco.

It's outside of my knowledge of statistics but does anyone know how
many
bulbs you would have to get and how short their lives would have to be
to
get, say, 99% certain that the bulb are being misrepresented? How
certain
would you have to be to put the matter 'beyond reasonable doubt'?


Don't quote me :)
... but AIUI, the nnnn hours life is predicated
on the 50% 'Life'; one gets say 100 units and power
them 'ON' simultaneously, _when_ the 50th unit fails
that's the nnnn hour "Life". Note this doesn't mean
that _your_ bunch of things will last nnnn hours!
Someone, somewhere, somewhen will end up saying;-
'I bought these in YYYY and they've lasted eons -
while someone else is saying; - "I bought these yesterday
and they've failed already" {The retailer/manufacturer
is still saying truthfully ; 'the life is nnnn hours".


OK. I'm sure that if I were to buy a reasonable quantity of budget bulbs I
won't get anywhere near the figure. How short a life for the 50th bulb is
significant to prove that bulbs on average don't have the life stated?

Example:
3 years ago I bought a kitchen light fitting for one of the flats I run.
the bulbs were all out in 6 weeks. (say 8 hours a day max - winter)
That's about 350 hours tops. Since then I've replaced them once.
Even allowing for summer usage of nothing so say 4 hours a day over the
whole year. Say 18 months life (at least) say that's about 500 days at 4
hours /day = that's about 2000 hours.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html