Energy Saving Alternative to Halogen Downlights
Energy Efficient Lighting June 21st, 2007Good morning,
My inquiry is in regard to replacing my 40 halogen downlights with energy saving ones.
My question I guess is what do you recommend, as I require lighting that is very similar to the 50 watt halogens.
Do you have lights that do not heat up like the halogens, if I am replacing them, safety is a big issue, as I worry about halogens and the heat they generate. Hopefully you can guide in the right direction.
Cheers,
Pete
June 21st, 2007 at 1:43 am
Dear Pete,
Many thanks for your enquiry
I would have a look at the following link:
http://lightingpro.com.au/ask/dangerous_heat_caused_by_halogen_downlights/
The link to the guard is:
http://lightingpro.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=26_37&products_id=186
Now I would have a look at the IRC lamp:
http://lightingpro.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=62&products_id=150
I have some low voltage downlights in my house. I use the 20 Watt Osram IRC lamps in all the fittings. All of my fittings are between 1 and 2 metres apart. If your fittings are further apart and you want the same amount of light that you currently have then you will need to go to the 60 degree beam 35 watt lamps but if your lights are like mine you will get away with the 20 watt 38 degree beam lamp
The 50 watt halogen (60 degree beam) you are probably using now will be putting out 720 candelas (on a good day)
The 20 watt 38 degree beam IRC will put out 780 candelas
The 35 watt 60 degree beam IRC will put out 1100 candelas
So as you can see you can save 30% or even 60% power which is a monster saving but you will also reduce the heat by the same amounts. Not only is this much safer (they still get very hot mind you) but it will also reduce your cooling costs if you use air conditioning in the summer. The best thing is that with both of these alternatives you get an increase in light output!
The lamps last 5,000 hours, are made in Germany so are of excellent quality and they will also maintain their light output for the life of the lamp unlike standard halogen lamps which have light depreciation over their service life!
These will pay for themselves very very quickly! If you use say one light for 4 hours each night the annual savings on the 20 watt lamp would be $7.44 and based on these hours the lamp would last 3.4 years. So if you do the maths over how many globes you use and how many hours they are on - the savings can be massive!
Did you know that if you operate an incandescent lamp on a dimmer and you lower the light output with the dimmer just 5% you will double the lamp life?
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Kind regards,
Daniel