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[dave.m]

Eaga is a company that works for the government coordinating energy saving schemes for people who are on some government benefits. As I am getting Disability Living Allowances I was eligible for increased loft insulation and cavity wall insulation carried out for free, which we had done, along with a pack of assorted low energy light bulbs, when we lived in a terraced house in Blackpool.

After moving to our Park Home, we contacted them and had an inspection of our home but as it already came up to the required standards, nothing needed doing but we still received another pack of low energy light bulbs.
Eaga wrote to us yesterday and notified us that we are entitled to a ’Power-down’ socket for the computer so that any accessories plugged into the socket will be switched off when the PC powers down, thus saving electricity. So I ticked the box and sent the form back.

We also get a pack of four low voltage 12 volt Spot lights. This is what worried me a little because we do not, at the moment, have any low voltage spot light fittings nor a transformer fitted for them. As I know what is what when it comes to lighting I will just store them for future use but I am a little worried if someone gets them and tries to replace their GU10 240 volt, 50 watt spots with these.
They are fitted with two pins to plug into the fitting connector but ’could’ be shoved into the connector that is used for GU10 mains voltage lamps, with dire consequences.

If any members get this offer, PLEASE be aware that the bulbs are LOW VOLTAGE and MUST NOT be pushed into your mains voltage spot light fitting connectors.

dave 

[Pwiggler]

sheesh!  interesting

[guest]

I can't help wondering how 12V 50W halogen spotlights are energy efficient At least that's what I assume they are?

50W is 50W regardless of whether its mains voltage or 12V dc so I have no idea why they're sending them to you. To put it in perspective, a 50W CFL (normal low-energy lamp) would have the same light output as a 200W incandescent lightbulb.

The power-down sockets are a brilliant idea - and for once one that works with zero effort

Edit - I don't think the 12V spots will do anything more than pop the fuse on your lighting circuit if you plugged them into a 240V lampholder. Best not to try though

[Astral]

I see you can get LE replacements for GU10's. 9 or 13 watt full spectrum, so similar colour temperature to halogens. I wonder how quickly they warm up though.

[dave.m]

Rizla,
Sorry, I didn't quote the size of the 12v lamps, they are 12v 20w so are a bit energy saving but my main worry was that they could be incorrectly fitted to the wrong fittings.
dave

[guest]

Ah that's a bit better.

I don't think they would explode or anything if they were plugged into 240V. If they do then its a pretty dumb state of affairs as there's nothing that physically prevents you putting a 240V lamp into 12V or vice versa.

I'll give it a try tomorrow as we have an old 240V fixture knocking about somewhere. You can tell I'm having a boring week can't you?

[guest]

I see you can get LE replacements for GU10's. 9 or 13 watt full spectrum, so similar colour temperature to halogens. I wonder how quickly they warm up though.

Not very quickly. You're looking at 10-30 seconds depending on the age of the tube - assuming you are talking about compact fluorescents? We have them (3 x 7W) in the downstairs loo and they are OK but you do notice them brightening.

[Astral]

Not very quickly. You're looking at 10-30 seconds depending on the age of the tube

I think I could put up with that compared with having 200watts worth of electricity bill from the poorly sited halogens in my kitchen.

[guest]

Yeah the kitchen is a better place for them. In retrospect the downstairs loo is somewhere where you may as well have incandescent lamps as the lamps are only on for a few minutes.

[dave.m]

Astral,
Some CFL Compact Fluorescent Lamps that will fit in place of mains voltage GU10s here :
http://tinyurl.com/36qdlw
They will stick out of the bottom of the fitting but not a lot.
***
I was thinking of getting some of these:
http://tinyurl.com/278ob
for the bathroom where we have 2 x 50w and 4 x 20w GU10s.
Think I might try a couple of blue ones over the bath for a really relaxing soak for the Manager. 
dave

[Astral]

These are the ones I was referring to;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200178673646&ssPageName=ADME:B:FSEL:GB:1123

I have had the "normal" sized daylight spectrum LE lamps from this seller in the past and they are very good if you have a tendency to suffer from SAD. Not the thing for "mood" lighting but excellent for work light.

[guest]

A 12V GU10 in a 240V fixture doesn't go bang. In fact it seems to be unaffected by doing this as the three I've tried are all still fine.

Probably best not to try this at home though

[ralphw]

Isn't the reasoning behind the 12V stuff that it's for use in the zone close to water ie bathrooms close above the washbasin/mirror and in a kitchens under cupboards above work tops?

[guest]

No idea but we have 240V fluorescent tubes under cupboards in the kitchen and our kitchen was installed May 2006.

[ralphw]

Oh well that's my theory shot down..