Articles Related to: Halogen lamps
It's not hard to see how the numbers scale up; taking the USA as an example, we know that each kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity that is generated results in 1.34 pounds of CO2. A fairly typical kitchen might easily have 10 x 50 watt
halogen lamps used for say 10 hours each day. This works out at 0.5 kWh * 10 * 365 * 1.34 = 2,446 pounds of CO2 per year.
Now see what happens by installing LED kitchen lighting, replacing 50W
halogen lamps with 6W LED equivalents: 0.06 kWh * 10 * 365 * 1.34 = 293 pounds of CO2. Extrapolating this, you can, in one fell swoop, reduce your home's carbon foot ...
... being internationally applied on governments to abide by CO2 obligations, then LED lighting can make a tremendous difference.
It's not hard to see how the numbers scale up; taking the USA as an example, we know that each kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity that is generated results in 1.34 pounds of CO2. A fairly typical kitchen might easily have 10 x 50 watt
Halogen lamps used for say 10 hours each day. This works out at 0.5 kWh * 10 * 365 * 1.34 = 2,446 pounds of CO2 per year.
Now see ...
And it’s even easier than that, because there is a surprisingly small range of values that good domestic LED light bulbs conform to.
Let’s take the most pervasive form; the LED spotlight. People invariably purchase these as low energy (hence low running cost) replacements for
halogen lamps rated at either 35 or 50 watts. Now most folk understand instinctively how bright these types of
halogen lamps are and can easily tell you whether an apparently equivalent ...
... and (strangely, much as with soup) who made it. And it’s even easier than that, because there is a surprisingly small range of values that good domestic LED light bulbs conform to.
Let’s take the most pervasive form; the LED spotlight. People invariably purchase these as low energy (hence low running cost) replacements for
Halogen lamps rated at either 35 or 50 watts. Now most folk understand instinctively how bright these types of
Halogen lamps are and can easily tell you whether an apparently equivalent LED is more or less the same the level of brightness. So how many watts of LED do you in fact need?
Well it turns out that an LED rated at 6W will pretty ...
However, while all these different types of lighting really do help create a stunning look that is both immensely practical and visually pleasing at the same time, there is a price to pay and that is the cost of running it all.
Up until quite recently it was common to use 50W
halogen lamps for recessed down lighting. In even a fairly modest with say 10 lamps that's 500 watts just to provide the background light. You can easily see how a well appointed kitchen might be consuming thousands of watts, and with the price of electricity where it is today, that's not exactly ...
... be somewhat pointless and counterproductive.
However, while all these different types of lighting really do help create a stunning look that is both immensely practical and visually pleasing at the same time, there is a price to pay and that is the cost of running it all.
Up until quite recently it was common to use 50W
Halogen lamps for recessed down lighting. In even a fairly modest with say 10 lamps that's 500 watts just to provide the background light. You can easily see how a well appointed kitchen might be consuming thousands of watts, and with the price of electricity where it is today, that's not ...
Too much or too little and they cannot maintain a steady output voltage.
Thus the converse case is also true, when a transformer that is designed to drive, let's say, a maximum of 500 watts worth of
halogen lamps is attached to 20 watts worth of LED spotlights. The expected resistance is not present, the output voltage increases and your expensive, long lasting LED bulbs burn out in short order. The trouble though is that often the damage being done isn't obvious - the lights do still appear to work (until it's too late of course).
So anyway, back to the original question, which was: can you use any old 12V ...
... simply because additional loads on the circuit (in this case, extra light fittings) add resistance (measured in "ohms") and transformers are designed to operate within a range of resistances. Too much or too little and they cannot maintain a steady output voltage.
Thus the converse case is also true, when a transformer that is designed to drive, let's say, a maximum of 500 watts worth of
Halogen lamps is attached to 20 watts worth of LED spotlights. The expected resistance is not present, the output voltage increases and your expensive, long lasting LED bulbs burn out in ...
You may very well not be like most people (in which case, apologies...) but statistically that assessment is going to be accurate more often than not.
But those two figures (£140 vs £16) are not plucked out of thin air - that's the genuine difference between a regular kitchen lit using a mere ten 50 watt
halogen lamps and the same space lit just as brightly using ten GU10 LED bulbs. Astounding isn't it? Image how much you could save if you did the same for the whole house?
So to get even more bang for your buck then start switching over to LED light bulbs pronto. Yes, they're ...
... you should do something about it. You may very well not be like most people (in which case, apologies...) but statistically that assessment is going to be accurate more often than not.
But those two figures (£140 vs £16) are not plucked out of thin air - that's the genuine difference between a regular kitchen lit using a mere ten 50 watt
Halogen lamps and the same space lit just as brightly using ten GU10 LED bulbs. Astounding isn't it? Image how much you could save if you did the same for the whole house?
So to get even more bang for your buck then start switching over to LED light bulbs pronto. Yes, they're more expensive to buy and you do need ...
