An Introduction To LED Spot Lights

You may have noticed that lighting is changing and that traditional incandescent light bulbs are being phased out and you are being encouraged these days to buy energy saving versions instead. Now until recently that pretty much meant you had to go with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) – those bulky mini fluorescent tubes that took a while to light up properly.

Now while the very latest CFLs may be perfectly adequate as replacements for regular globe shaped bulbs they have never been any good at replacing spot lights and nor will they ever be. And this meant that for people who use halogen lamps, in either track or recessed fittings, there was little viable alternative to watching their lighting burn a hole in their wallet.

Then along came the Light Emitting Diode (LED). Now these have of course been around quite a while but only recently have they been available to consumers as replacements for halogen spot lights. Where LED scores over CFL is that it uses even less electricity to produce similar levels of light and the light is very pure and focused – and it switches on instantly. Perfect then for a spot light!

So what should you look out for in an LED spot light? Firstly they are of course available in both low voltage (inaccurately but commonly referred to as MR16) bi-pin format and as mains powered twist-and-lock GU10 LED bulbs. The latter is more widely available and also avoids having to engage in re-wiring to replace regular 12v transformers with LED drivers. To replace mains powered halogen lamps with LED equivalents all you need to do is swap the lamps over – that’s it!

The second thing is to get the power and color right. LED spot lights consume about 1/10th the power of equivalent brightness halogens, so look to replace a 35w lamp with a 4-5w LED and a 50w lamp with a 5-6w LED. Do not for one minute believe claims that 1.2w or even 3w will work – it won’t.

Where color is concerned we’re talking about color temperature or the difference between what is called warm white and cool white. Pretty much all halogen lamps emit warm white light, while a great many LEDs emit cool white. Cool white is brighter and more akin to daylight but for general domestic lighting it is a little harsh for most people’s tastes, so you’re best advised to go for the warmest white available with LED (about 2700-3000 Kelvin if you can find that information stated anywhere).