FAQ

The GU10 (240V) Down Light kits do not require a Transformer LED Driver. These are installed directly into the downlight bulb. The added advantage to these fittings is that if you want a brighter light or change the colour temperature, say from warm white to a cool white all that you need to do is change out the downlight bulb.

The MR16 Down light kits have the same advantages as the GU10 kits but require a driver to run the 12 volt bulbs.

Complete Gimble downlight kits have been developed for areas that require more light than the standard GU10 and MR16. These start where the GU10 and MR16 stop being 10 watts and go up to 18Watts.

Please NOTE all downlights in these ranges have a 90mm ceiling hole cut out so in the event you decide to change there is no issues with the ceiling hole size.

Our downlights do work with a number of transformers on the market and it a good idea to check all light fittings in the house in the event you have different brands of transformers.

Once this is established and you have found the LED lights that are not compatible with your current transformers, you will need to get these changed over for our new LED Drivers.

These come with an Australian plug one end and the MR16 the other.

Your alternative and what a lot of my clients are doing is to remove the transformer completely and change the system to the GU10 fitting, this removes all issues with transformers – LED drivers and brings your system back to the standard 240V.

No the GU10 LED are a plug and play set up. Just remove the old downlight and replace it with the new LED GU10 Bulb.

Warm white are predominately used in places like lounges, bedrooms, dinning areas etc where the Cool White is used in more work related areas such as kitchens, bathrooms, outside eve areas and garages. Cool whites are associated with concentration and help to reduce visual and mental fatigue. In general cool white appears brighter than warm white. The warm white and cool white descriptions are only a guide to colour within a certain range, different bulbs or different batches of the same bulb may vary in colour within that range.

Lights come in different ‘colour temperatures’, warm white is between 3000 kelvin and 3500k and has a yellowish glow. Cool whites are between 5000k and 7000k and contain more blue tones, they are closer to the colour of daylight and are good for concentration. The warm white and cool white descriptions are only a guide to colour within a certain range, different bulbs or different batches of the same bulb may vary in colour within that range.

Yes. Our range of LED’s are a plug and play application, just remove the existing screw or bayonet fitting bulb and replace it with the NEW LED bulb.

Only if the LED is specifically marked ‘Dimmable’. A dimmable LED uses a different internal driver to a non-dimmable LED. These dimmable LED’s do not work with all existing dimmers but the range is growing as manufacturers continue to make improvements and new drivers become available. Using a non dimmable LED bulb on a circuit which includes a dimmer will void your warranty.

The LED itself may last up to and in many cases beyond 50,000 hours. The weak link is the drivers for the LED’s, these are like transformers and will eventually fail and is what dies in power spikes etc.

LEDs’ are the superior choice for a multitude of reasons.

• LED’s use very little energy, often far less than the compact fluorescent bulbs that are currently being marketed as ‘energy saving’. This translates to significant savings on your power bill.


• The LED itself may last up to and in many cases beyond 50 000 hours. The weak link is the drivers for the LED’s, these are like transformers and will eventually fail and is what dies in power spikes etc


• This makes them much cheaper than other bulbs in the long term but also saves the time and inconvenience of having to change bulbs regularly, particularly in hard to reach places.


• LED’s emit no UV light and are safe for people with health problems that are affected by fluorescent lights.


• LED’s produce very little heat, greatly reducing the strain on air conditioning systems and therefore further reducing energy consumption.


• LED’s can be retro fitted into most standard lighting fixtures.


• LED’s emit no audible buzz that can make fluorescent bulbs very annoying and interfere with radio frequencies.


• LED’s are mercury free, they pose no immediate threat if they are broken and they do not require hazardous waste disposal. Compact fluorescents are highly toxic if broken and should be disposed of as hazardous waste.


• LED’s come in a huge range of styles and colours to suit any application.


• LED’s are shock and vibration resistant, there are no fragile filaments that can be easily damaged.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode, an example of solid state lighting.

Of course lights for various purposes will have different specifications but on average an LED will use 1/8th of the power of a standard incandescent bulb. Most commonly used LED bulbs use between 1 and 15 watts. Rarely will you see an LED that uses more than 15 watts of power. This means that in general, LED’s use less power than compact fluoro bulbs which are currently being marketed as ‘energy saving’.

In February 2007 the Australian government enacted a law that will ban the sale of most incandescent bulbs by 2010. Until recently the only alternative we had been given was to use compact fluorescent bulbs which contain hazardous levels of mercury. LED’s are a far cleaner and safer choice.

Bayonet Cap – B22

Small Bayonet Cap and Bayonet Cap fittings. Abbreviation SBC or B15 and BC or B22. Usually found in older style fittings.

Edison Screw – E27

E27 (27mm) – Edison Screw ES

MR16 (2 Pin)

Most commonly used for recessed downlights. MR16 Pins they are approximately 5.3mm apart. MR16 bulbs are 50mm across.

GU10

Most commonly used for recessed downlights.

G13 – 2 Pin

Fluorescent strips generally have a two-pin fitting at both ends of the tube. Standard size T8 (25mm) and the larger T12 (38mm) tubes both use the G13 fitting. The smaller T5 (16mm) tubes use the G5 fitting with 5mm between the two pins.

No! Mercury is a highly toxic Neurotoxin, many people are unaware of it’s use in any fluorescent light bulb and are not educated on the strict cleanup procedures they should follow should one break in their presence. Millions of these mercury containing light bulbs are being thrown away into our landfills risking the contamination of our ground water

LED’s have been around for decades in our cars and as indicators on electronic devices but their use was limited by manufacturers inability to create a white LED. Recent developments have made a white LED possible and the LED has since moved ahead in leaps and bounds to the point where we can now offer an LED alternative for any lighting application. Cost had also been a prohibitive factor in popularising LED’s but as you can see from our prices cost is no longer a concern, particularly when the LED’s long life and energy efficiency are taken into consideration

The price of LED’s varies depending on the application and the number, size and quality of LED’s included in any one light bulb. In many cases LED’s are available at a price that is comparative to compact fluorescent bulbs. When considering price, attention should also be given to how much energy LED’s save therefore reducing power bills and their extremely long lifespan.

In the past LED’s have had a reputation for not being bright enough, you do need to be careful what you are buying and who you are buying them from. Individual LED’s can vary greatly in size and quality. We have personally tested all the LED’s we sell and we give an approximate indication of the wattage of the incandescent bulb they are an effective replacement for. LED light is usually more directional than incandescent light and they do emit a different kind of light to incandescent bulbs, it is recommended that you install them and give yourself a day or two to get used to the different look of the room. The first time you turn them on the room may feel quite different but you’ll find after you’ve been away and then re-entered the room a couple of times you get used to the new look very quickly.

If a bulb is broken, it poses absolutely no immediate health risk, simply sweep up the pieces and place them in the bin. Landfill is the recommended method of disposal.

Cree is a manufacturer of LED’s. Our products use a range of LED’s including such brands as Cree (USA), Edison (Taiwan), Epistar (Taiwan) and Bridgelux (USA)

The CE marking is a mandatory European marking for certain product groups to indicate conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in European Directives. To permit the use of a CE mark on a product, proof that the item meets the relevant requirements must be documented. The RoHS Directive stands for “the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment”. This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.

Yes we do. All the products sold on this site come with 2 years warranty on faulty goods. This is certainly much better than any fluorescent product which offers no warranty and lists a 20% failure rate as satisfactory. Depending on usage the money saved through reduced energy consumption has more than paid for the bulb before the warranty expires, so under these circumstances there is no chance of financial loss.

Yes, heat is an LED’s Number 1 enemy. When too much wattage is pushed through an LED it creates too much heat and the lamp will fail. This is the reason manufacturers took a long time to develop brightness in small bulbs such as a 50W halogen replacement, it was very difficult to create that level of brightness in such a small area without also creating too much heat. This is a problem that has been successfully overcome during the last year. The environment in which the LED bulb is placed can also impact it’s lifespan. Ambient temperatures should be between-20°C – +50°C and the bulb should be adequately ventilated to allow any heat generated to dissipate. The surface temperature of an LED will be approximately 50oC-60oC which is not too hot to touch but probably too hot to be comfortable holding for long.

A lumen is a unit of measurement that is used to express how much illumination a light source provides. An easy way to illustrate this measurement is to imagine a birthday cake with candles. A lamp that puts out 1 lumen of light is as bright as 1 birthday candle. A lamp that puts out 100 lumens of light is as bright as 100 candles. Thus, the higher the amount of lumens the brighter the light.

Luminous efficacy measures how efficient a light source is at converting electricity power to light. It is measured in lumen output per unit power input (watt). Efficacy = lumen / wattage

Incandescents = 12.8 lm/W

Halogens = 14.4 lm/W

Compact Fluorescents = 45 lm/W

LEDs = 70 – 80 lm/W

Beam angle refers to a light source’s measure of spread which is measured in degrees. A light’s beam angle is determined when its lux level drops to half of the intensity of the centre beam (see diagram). Beam angles are commonly 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees.

A light that is gimballed allows the direction of the light to be adjusted to a certain degree. Gimbles are useful if you need the light to be projected in a certain direction, i.e. if light needs to point down a hallway.

A watt is a unit of electrical power. We measure electrical usage in watts and pay for our electricity by the number of watts we use. Typically a standard halogen incandescent bulb operates at 50 watts. In contrast LEDs can be just as bright while using about a quarter of the watts.

• Efficiency: LEDs emit more light per watt than incandescent light bulbs. Their efficiency is not affected by shape and size, unlike fluorescent light bulbs or tubes.


• Color: LEDs can emit light of an intended color without using any color filters as traditional lighting methods need. This is more efficient and can lower initial costs.


• Size: LEDs can be very small (smaller than 2 mm2) and are easily populated onto printed circuit boards.


• On/Off time: LEDs light up very quickly. A typical red indicator LED will achieve full brightness in under a microsecond.] LEDs used in communications devices can have even faster response times.


• Cycling: LEDs are ideal for uses subject to frequent on-off cycling, unlike fluorescent lamps that fail faster when cycled often, or HID lamps that require a long time before restarting.


• Dimming: LEDs can very easily be dimmed either by pulse-width modulation or lowering the forward current.


• Cool light: In contrast to most light sources, LEDs radiate very little heat in the form of IR that can cause damage to sensitive objects or fabrics. Wasted energy is dispersed as heat through the base of the LED.


• Slow failure: LEDs mostly fail by dimming over time, rather than the abrupt failure of incandescent bulbs.


• Lifetime: LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer.[95] Fluorescent tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 15,000 hours, depending partly on the conditions of use, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000–2,000 hours.


• Shock resistance: LEDs, being solid state components, are difficult to damage with external shock, unlike fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, which are fragile.


• Focus: The solid package of the LED can be designed to focus its light. Incandescent and fluorescent sources often require an external reflector to collect light and direct it in a usable manner.

Please read below recommendations for room types in a standard house with 2.04 metre to 3.0 metre ceilings

• Kitchen = 7 – 10 Watt downlights in Cool White (approximately 1000mm apart)


• Bedrooms = 6 – 7 Watt downlights in Warm White (allow 4 per average bedroom)


• Bathrooms = 7 – -10 Watt downlights in Cool White


• Walk in Robe = 6 – 7 Watt downlights in Warm White


• Toilets = 6 – 7 Watt downlights in Cool White


• Hallways: 7 – 10 Watt downlights in Warm White


• Study: = 7 – 10 Watt downlights in Warm White


• Lounge = 10 – 12 – 14 Watt downlights in Warm White either non dimmable and put them on different circuits or use the dimmable units. Personal preference. I have 12w in a ceiling height of 4.0 metres and works well.


• Theatre: = 6 – 7 Watt downlights in Warm White


• Outside Eve areas: 7 – 10 Watt downlights in Cool or warm White, This is personal preference to colour temperature


• Garage = 12 Watt Downlight Cool White allow 4 for a two car space

If you are ready to place an order, please email me the complete list so we can give you a better bulk price.

The reason an LED fixture dies is erratic power or power surges. All LED’s require a Driver (transformer) that transfers the power from 240 volts house power down to 12-36volts DC that power the LED units.

The power travels through the driver and onto the LED’s. As the driver is an electronic component and is between the 240 volt power and the LED’s, this is the first component to die, it is a bit like a fuse the LED’s won’t be affected.

Please NOTE: When you have one or more LED products die in a short period of time it is not covered by warranty as it will be a power surge that has caused this.

We only carry the cool white as the main use of these lights is to light work environment. The warm white are more for mood lighting. The minimum order for the warm white is ten units and take around 5-6 week from placement of order to delivery.

No LED’s as a principal don’t let off enough heat but you should always have them installed in the event of an electrical short and to stop the insulation covering the light thus overheating the light and thus reducing the life of the product.

No LED’s as a principal don’t let off enough heat but you should always have them installed in the event of an electrical short and to stop the insulation covering the light thus overheating the light and thus reducing the life of the product.

No. Regulations for the minimum clearance of insulation around a light in the ceiling differ from state to state. Laying anything over a light fitting will cause the light to overheat and thus reducing the life of that light. Please check with your electrician or local authorities for the regulations in your State.

These are either mounted into suspended ceilings the same as you would with a fluro trough.

The LED Panel hang wire is a stainless cable hanging system that you can adjust up to one metre. You can purchase this with your panel light.