This was posted 9 years 2 months 13 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Brightgreen DR700 LED Downlight $20 at Ecovantage + $13.95 Post or Free Pickup (Collingwood VIC)

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Excellent price for the Brightgreen DR700. Cheapest that I could find elsewhere is $47. Ecovantage claim RRP of $55.

Postage appears to be a flat rate of $13.95 for NSW/Vic/Qld/Tas/SA and $15.95 for WA & NT. Collection available from Collingwood.

These run from 12 volts, GU5.3 base (MR16) i.e. it's a retrofit replacement for tungsten-halogen downlight lamps.

Note: retrofit LEDs are generally not as good as complete kits/fittings. The DR700 is not the most efficient LED around nor the brightest (but it is reasonably good in both respects). It would be, or very close to being, the brightest direct replacement GU5.3 12V LED lamp though. Changeover is a DIY task in most cases, assuming it fits in your existing fittings and is compatible with your transformer.

Manufacturer's product page: https://brightgreen.com/au/led-lights/dr700-retrofit-downlig…

Independent testing: http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=94&name=Brightgre…

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  • +7

    Let's hope this post doesn't get overrun with people talking about how cheap $6 LED lights are better because they're cheaper.

    The brightgreens are the ducks nuts of LED downlights.

    • +2

      Yes totally agree. Amazes me that some people want to use ebay/aliexpress lights with grossly exaggerated specs, abundant RF interference and no certainty of them even being safe to use. Not worth the risk.

      • I am reluctant to try the ebay ones. Concerned about safety aspect. Don't want to risk burning the house down for few dollars. Especially with today's property prices.

      • While I've never argued that cheaper LED lights are better/worse that more expensive ones, I've always thought they were fine to use.

        I bought a bunch of them from ALDI a year and a half ago and use them in my kitchen. What problems do these lights have?

        • +2

          Actually Aldi LEDs, not that I've seen them myself, are great value. Importantly, their claimed specs are spot on - what's advertised is what you get.

          That is not the case for many ebay LEDs which is what I was referring to - no-name lamps from no-name vendors that in many cases produce only a fraction of their advertised light output, last only a fraction of their advertised lifetime, may use counterfeit LED chips, may be electrically unsafe or even a fire hazard, create excessive radio/TV interference, flicker excessively etc. See here for some examples.

        • @andrew1879: I would use Aldi ones, but worry about the eBay ones not meeting the Australian standards and the fact they are not certified to be used in Australia, which could mean if the fire is caused by the lights, insurance may not pay up.

        • @andrew1879:

          Wow thank you, I never knew LED lights could be laden with so many problems! I'll make sure I continue to buy from reputable places. Good to know the fact an LED downlight costs $6 doesn't automatically make it bad.

  • Looks like a great price. Pity about shipping though.

    • +1

      shipping not too bad. Seems to be flat rate - e.g. $15.95 for 4 lights to Perth.

      • Oh yes.. it's probably good for people looking to buy a lot of them.

  • +1

    Good drop in price for the 700.

    OP, if you're keeping an eye on that site, or elsewhere, let us know if the high CRI D900 or D550 downlights ever receive the same treatment. Cheers.

  • You are right, these look good and bright. Also implies they are dimmable, which would be a positive. But I would suggest if you are in Victoria that you get them replaced under the free government scheme. See how they look and if not happy then buy these where required. The free ones won't be as bright as these (probably half as bright), but they are free. Note dimmable bulb replacement isn't free. You can get this one installed http://shop.ecovantage.com.au/philips-master-7w-mr16-led-dow… , but they charge about $7 each.

    • Would these guys install them for free based on the VIC govt scheme?

    • From a quick read looks like the free gov scheme is only for free installation, still have to pay for the downlight ?

      • Not true for all suppliers. Certain lights are free under the scheme. Some people have offered these free on Ozbargain but been hounded out. Google free led downlights. There are a number of companies offering them on Gumtree.

        Generally the free lights aren't of the quality of these, but they are still reasonable.

        Here is the Ozbargain post in the past:
        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/161338

    • Yes, these are dimmable :)

  • Thats a bargain - have these in my kitchen and they are fantastic. Now where else can I put them??? Only limitation I find is that they have a higher profile than a lot of others.

  • +1

    Great price but beware of fakes and imitations. I would contact brightgreen first and see if Ecovantage is one of their official supplier.

    http://brightgreen.com/eu/blog/articles/copycats-counterfeit…

    • Ecovantage definitely ARE an official retailer.

      These are being cleared because they don't comply with VEET requirements for domestic installations.

  • Great price. Bought 12. Thanks OP!

  • +5

    Probably much safer to get them delivered than to drive into Collingwood

  • Quality and cheap.
    Hope there are some white/chrome ones…

    Thinking of buying the 13w 'samsung' led downlights from ebay, bunnings have similar products for $29, cool white only though.

    • +1

      I have tried a couple of LEDs similar to the 13W "Samsung" you're talking about. Their brightness & efficiency is pretty good, although the light is widely spread so will probably be slightly less bright directly underneath than you're used to. I found the glare from the relatively large diffused surface to be their biggest drawback. If you have a look at ledbenchmark.com you'll see several similar types and for a few dollars more you can probably find one that someone has tested so you know if the claimed lumen output is real.

      • Thanks man, much appreciated!
        Any recommendations?
        Please send PM if its not appropriate here…

  • +1 for these led. Ordered 25. Thanks.

  • So are these compatible with standard halogen light transformers? I tried cheaper LED downlights from ebay and they don't work well with my transformers (probably due to low power draw).

    • +1

      Yes, they are retrofit LEDs.

  • +1

    A real bargain. I bought 22.

    ratsacker has done an excellent job of evaluating many LED downlights (including these ones) over at whirlpool.

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1951172&p…

    Go here for an excel comparison sheet

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/74901759/Ledglobes.xlsx

    The DR700 is the best for a MR16 replacement, and is as bright as the brightest 10w/12w kit.

  • Yes, luckily they are compatible with all my existing transformers. Not sure about yours. Recommend you try first before buy in bulk.

  • Thanks OP - bought some more! Way back when I replaced a number of lights in my house with these and they work a treat even with my nasty transformers.

  • I bought about 10 a while back, 8 of my transformers worked with them however there were 2 where none of the Brightgreen lights would work, however this was a much better success rate than any of the numerous other LEDs I have tried. I was very happy with how bright they were compared to other brands.

  • +1

    Need the GU10 version to be on sale too…

  • +1

    I trialed 30-40 different LED lights for a commercial project spanning tens of thousands of lights the company which I work for developed. We didn't end up going for these (We went for a Pierlight), but these were far and away the BEST real world performers we sampled for retrofitting. As our project was a new build we went with the Pierlight but for anything retrofit, I would back these any day.

  • We use these LEDs on dimmer switches and they are great. Good price too. We've been slowly swapping out our halogens for these when they're cheap enough.

  • when its installed, do you see the black ring?
    or does the original fitting hide it ?

  • Can anyone enLIGHTen me and let me know if these would be compatible with a CBus system?

    • +1

      Of course - CBus is just a control system, so everything is compatible.

      However if you mean CBus dimmers and you have electronic transformers them the answer is maybe.

      You will have to reset the dimmer minimums of you will have massive dead bands and/or snap-on. And there is a minimum load per channel that you have to meet, or the dimmer will act up something chronic or not even switch on.

      Further, if the CBus installer has done a cheapo install with only dimmer channels and no relays for on/off, then you may find that the lamps randomly flicker on when they should be off… this is caused by a bleed voltage from the dimmer at 0% not really being "off" at all.

      These are the exact same issues that affect ALL dimmers, not just C-bus. There is nothing particularly "special" about CBus dimmers, they are basically the same as the standard Clipsal dimmer guts with a control system rather than a potentiometer telling them what to do.

      The majority of dimming problems in retrofit projects can be resolved by adding more load, and when "off" you need to get the voltage down to zero somehow. Easiest way to fix dimming issues is to install one or more of the old black wirewound transformers into each circuit. This provides an inductive load that the dimmer was originally designed for, and stops it misbehaving.

  • I want to put White LED down lights (I know these are warm. I will keep an eye on this website) in my house. Can I buy these (cool daylight) and then get this fitted by an electrician? or I need to buy something else as well.

    Do we have to buy transformer separate for these?

    • The DR700 in this post is a "globe" replacement only, primarily designed to replace existing 12 volt halogens. It needs a transformer and downlight fitting, and if you don't already have them then these items need to be installed by an electrician.
      If you don't have downlights already then complete kits are the technically better option, which are a complete LED fitting with matched driver ("driver" is just a term for a power supply, which takes the place of the transformer).

      • Thanks and yes, I need the complete kit.
        Can you advise where to start looking for them as I am thinking to get the m fitted after few months.

        • Similar to a comment I made above & the replies to it, I would look into:
          - Osram Luxpoint Mini G2 Bunings have the WW version so perhaps you could have a look at that in-store.
          - Pierlite Starburst Crystal (get your electrician to supply them, can be expensive)
          - Wattsaver have some good but expensive products. Their are some discrepancies in the specs on their website. Australian made which is commendable.
          - LANX Australis 13W
          - Martec Tradetec Arte
          Be aware that the last two have large diffusers and will have more glare.
          Also have a look at SAL, Domus, Martec whose products look promising. This list is a start (by no means comprehensive; I wish those guys had more resources to test more). As a guide, halogen downlights are approx 700 lumens (brightness) so look for at least that much, find something in your price range with a good review, preferably with CRI (colour rendering index, a measure of light quality with respect to its spectrum of colours) of 85 or more, and efficiency of at least 70 lumens per watt.
          See also the spreadsheet by "ratsacker" mention in moyanous's post which has more test results.
          While downlights are fashionable, in my opinion they are pretty inefficient as a light source as most light is aimed straight down at the floor, and the light is less even than more traditional forms of lighting. They have their place though.
          I don't claim to be an expert so would welcome comments from others.

        • @andrew1879: Thanks Mate. That was a great and userful help to start.

  • TLDR above, but these are good, for a plug and play LED down light, no they don't come close to their big brothers the D900's though totally different league, these are half the price but to be honest i believe the D900's are easily worth the extra coin.
    2cents.

  • Thanks, have these in my kitchen and bought for $55 x 4 a year ago. Now will be able to do the house! Bought 18.

  • i know nothing about LED…bought 10

  • sold out?

    • Appears so. Pity, was going to order 8 this morning to try out my first LED halogen replacements. :(

      • +1

        just called up and they said its out of stock

  • not sold out… they have it under sales category BUT the price is now $30 with a claimed RRP of $60.50… was going to place order with this mob.. but not anymore.

    • +1

      Those are different

    • Yeah, I thought this originally, but then realised it was a 240V not 12V version for $30.

    • That's actually a different product, not the 12 volt version that was in this post.

    • This post was for: Brightgreen 12V 10.5W Warm White DR700 LED Downlight

      The $30 ones are: Brightgreen 10.5W 60 Degree Beam DR700 Integrated

  • I purchased 43 of these (enough for the whole house) at 6PM on the day the deal went up, and just got an email saying that they are out of stock and I'll get a refund. Not happy - I was really excited to get them!

  • Unfortunately we have sold out of the products you ordered and are
    therefore unable to fulfill your order.

    We will process a full refund which will take effect within 2 to 3
    business days.

    (& I only ordered 6)

  • As of 1pm, they are now claiming to have refunded - which is not the case (Paypal payment).

  • only ordered 10 and they are now telling me out of stock.

    has anyone here succeed?

  • I'm on the same boat. Out of stock and refund. Dodgy business.

    • A dodgy business wouldn't refund your money…

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