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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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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 |
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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 |
#3
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"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 |
#4
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"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. |
#5
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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 |
#6
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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 |
#7
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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 |
#8
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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 |
#9
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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 |
#10
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"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. |
#11
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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 |
#12
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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 |
#13
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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. |
#14
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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. |
#15
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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 |
#16
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"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. -- |
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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 |
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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 |
#19
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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 |
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"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. |
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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 |
#22
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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 |
#23
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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. ;-) |
#24
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"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. |
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"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. |
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"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. -- |
#27
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"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! |
#28
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"Ed Sirett" wrote in message news 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 |
#29
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On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:56:21 +0000, Brian Sharrock wrote:
"Ed Sirett" wrote in message news 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 |
#30
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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 news On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:56:21 +0000, Brian Sharrock wrote: "Ed Sirett" wrote in message news 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 |
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