LED Downlights or LED Bayonet/Screw Bulbs

MAD for Everything on 11/12/2020 - 10:38

Hi All

Just need a bit of advice as we are looking to add additional lights to some of our rooms. Currently, we have the bayonet/screw fittings for our lights which we normally go buy the LED bulbs from Coles/Woolworths when they are on special. We were thinking of getting the same fittings to match the existing light fittings since we have a small stockpile of LED bulbs when they go half price at Coles/Woolworths.

One electrician told us that our existing light fittings are not good, as they are hardwired, and advised us to replace them with the LED downlights with the 240v plugs. To replace the LED downlights if they die, just have to remove the whole light fitting and get a replacement from Bunnings and plug it in. In addition, you can switch between warm light and cool light by flicking a switch on the back of the unit (which I doubt we would do once installed)

This is, of course, additional cost, for example, instead of adding two extra light fittings in a room, we would be replacing the original two light fittings plus install the two new light fittings with new LED downlights.

Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts if we should A. just get normal bayonet/screw light fittings installed or B. replace the light fittings with the plug-in LED downlights (potential future proof??)

Cheers

Home & Garden

Comments

  • highon2str on 11/12/2020 - 10:43

    Since you are mad for everything, why not go with both standard light fittings and downlights? 😁

    • highon2str on 11/12/2020 - 10:48
      +1

      Alright seriously though, if you're engaging a sparky to install new light fittings, you may as well get downlights fitted. Much cleaner look and you get the illusion of more space once installed. Both 7W and 9W, tri-colour, dimmable DETA downlights from Bunnings look pretty ordinary but have worked well for almost a year now since we had them installed.

    • MAD for Everything on 11/12/2020 - 10:51

      Hahaha, I am MAD for Everything but I also like uniform fittings instead of haphazard fittings on the ceiling, will look ugly.

  • iforgotmysocks on 11/12/2020 - 10:45

    LEDs supposedly should last around 30,000-50,000 hours, so 10-15 years if they are on 8 hours a day which would rarely be the case

    So I'd just get the downlights and let future MAD for Everything sort it out down the track.

    • MAD for Everything on 11/12/2020 - 10:52

      Do LED bayonet/screw bulbs last just as long as LED downlights?

  • boomramada on 11/12/2020 - 10:51

    Downlights are way to go, unless it's a small room or thinking about hanging few nice looking light fittings.

  • geek001 on 11/12/2020 - 10:59
    +1

    When you replace your lights with downlights, you will actually decrease the amount of light in the room because downlights have a smaller beam angle compared to say an oyster or batten light fitting. You will need more downlights to get the same amount of light. If you needed more light on a budget, I would just buy a larger wattage bulb. On the other hand, I admit that downlights do look nicer as it is flush with the ceiling.

  • paulpavs on 11/12/2020 - 11:15

    In true Ozbargain fashion check out the government rebates on LEDs… we did our whole house replacing around 35 older halogen downlights for plug in LEDs for around $500 for switchable 9w LEDs. This included the conversion of the plug from hardwired to 240v plug. Now if we wanted we could replace the entire unit as you mentioned for minimal cost without a sparky thanks to the government rebate.

    Quotes from most sparkies were around $50 per fixture and $20 per LED unit. However thanks to the government energy saving initiatives it came down to around $15-$17 (from memory) per fixture to have one of the selected companies come out and do it.

    Mind you I am Melbourne based with info available from the sustainability.vic.gov website. Its as simple as contacting one of the providers for a quote and they do the rest.

  • kaleidoscope on 11/12/2020 - 12:50
    +1

    just get led downlights. make sure they’re the type which allows insulation to be placed over it.

  • Msnafo on 11/12/2020 - 14:39

    Downlight is no problem， recommend the wattage >5w , and installation is easily for downlights.

  • November14 on 11/12/2020 - 14:48

    We have the same hardwired edison lights on the ceiling of our old terrace - for corridors they are fine, but they create glare effect when the bulb light hits the rim of recessed light fitting, which is not comfortable to the eyes. We decided to change it to plug-in downlights and it's so much better in terms of light distribution and eye comfort especially when working in the room.

  • MAD for Everything on 12/12/2020 - 10:36

    Thank you everyone for your advice, it is greatly appreciated.

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