Why use 12v downlights

[Bul]

Do many of you choose to install 12v downlights instead of mains ones?
I was thinking that doing away with the problem of the transformers failing. I still see reasonably new installations with 12v downlights.

 

[davesparks]

As an apprentice we always fitted 12v due the the brighter, whiter, light output.

These days I only fit high quality led fittings

 

[wildgoose]

Any augment for using MR16 low voltage downlighters instead of the latest 230v led GU10's, has now gone.
I'm thinking the only reason is that they can still buy end of line really cheap MR16 stuff because making profit is more important than giving their customers the most appropriate and up to date lighting solution.

 

[Octopus]

Can't think the last time I fitted 12v lighting .......

 

[wildgoose]

There could be another reason they still use MR16's instead of GU10 led 's - poor product knowledge?

 

[Adam W]

As an apprentice we always fitted 12v due the the brighter, whiter, light output.

These days I only fit high quality led fittings

I recently replaced some of your 'bright, crisp white' 12v halogens:

I changed them for Philips GU10 LEDs:

I know which one I think looks better.

 

[Leesparkykent]

Can't think the last time I fitted 12v lighting .......

I've recently installed loads of it....but it was a tension wire system.

 

[Octopus]

There could be another reason they still use MR16's instead of GU10 led 's - poor product knowledge?

Or just dodgers and builders going to sheds?

 

[Leesparkykent]

I recently replaced some of your 'bright, crisp white' 12v halogens:
View attachment 30253
I changed them for Philips GU10 LEDs:
View attachment 30254
I know which one I think looks better.

The second pic there is a light on to the left and at the end which aren't on in the 1st pic.

 

[davesparks]

I recently replaced some of your 'bright, crisp white' 12v halogens:
View attachment 30253
I changed them for Philips GU10 LEDs:
View attachment 30254
I know which one I think looks better.

wtf? 12v mr16 is brighter and a better quality of light than gu10 halogen. It's only the new LED fittings that have bettered them.

Your pictures are not comparable due to the other light sources present in the second picture. Retake the pictures without the additional lighting and using a camera which does not automatically adjust it's settings.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

You have to compare like with like. 12V halogen is generally better than 230V halogen - the lamps are more efficient, more durable and have higher colour temp. So then you ask 'Why install halogen.' For critical applications that need the best colour rendering, you can't beat it because it's a proper continuous light spectrum similar to natural light. So for example I use halogen over my main work area and bench instead of LED, and therefore 12V. In a corridor, 230V LED is ideal.

Edit: Davesparks beat me to it while my internet was going wibble

 

[Lagentium]

I agree with the post about that second picture, you can see the tight cone that the LED is giving but there's some supplementary light there that isn't on the first one.

 

[shanky887614]

the only place most of us will run into mr16 on newish houses will be the rubbish combined spot/extractior fans.

the bathroom in this new house has a really bad damp problem because it just doesnt extract enough.

no window either lol

 

[Marvo]

A lot of commercial lighting is specified as MR16 12V because of the colour rendering. It's also feasible it might be a better option as ELV in certain higher risk zones like above a shower for example.

 

[Midwest]

You have to compare like with like. 12V halogen is generally better than 230V halogen - the lamps are more efficient, more durable and have higher colour temp. So then you ask 'Why install halogen.' For critical applications that need the best colour rendering, you can't beat it because it's a proper continuous light spectrum similar to natural light. So for example I use halogen over my main work area and bench instead of LED, and therefore 12V. In a corridor, 230V LED is ideal.

You better get a stock in of those halogens, cos the EU's gonna get rid of them in 2018; EU delays ban on halogen bulbs | EurActiv, unless we are not in the EU by then :rolleyes4:

 

[Adam W]

Those pictures were only an indication which I happened to have saved on my computer. I didn't go out of my way to add 'additional lighting' to try to prove a point, in fact the only reason it's there is because it makes so little difference when you're in the room that I didn't even notice it, but there's no way you could say the lighting in the first picture looks good - IMO it's unacceptable to have so much variation in one row of lights. Elsewhere in the same building there was a corridor of 230v GU10s with no variation whatsoever.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

cos the EU's gonna get rid of them in 2018; EU delays ban on halogen bulbs | EurActiv,

I don't think that ban will affect reflector lamps which are typically class B for a 50W MR16 dichroic. It's targeting the halogen replacement versions of GLS lamps which are class D and the like.

 

[davesparks]

IMO it's unacceptable to have so much variation in one row of lights.

Bit what caused the differences? Did it look like that when it was first installed.

If someone has changed the lamps with different types then it is hardly the fault of the lamp is it?

 

[Bul]

Lucien - could you elaborate on "12V halogen is generally better than 230V halogen - the lamps are more efficient, more durable and have higher colour temp." I'm sure many would be interested.

 

[davesparks]

Lucien - could you elaborate on "12V halogen is generally better than 230V halogen - the lamps are more efficient, more durable and have higher colour temp." I'm sure many would be interested.

What kind if elaboration are you looking for?
They are more efficient as you get more lumens per circuit watt
They are more durable as they last longer and can take a bit more rough treatment
And the colour temp speaks for itself, it higher therefore a cleaner/whiter light

 

[Adam W]

Bit what caused the differences? Did it look like that when it was first installed.

If someone has changed the lamps with different types then it is hardly the fault of the lamp is it?

They were all the same type - MR16. Maybe different makes, maybe different transformers, almost certainly different ages, maybe even different wattages, maybe different amounts of pressure, dirt or corrosion on the silly pin connections, and they all look very different.
I've never seen so much variation with GU10s, even halogen ones.
If the end user changes a lamp for a lamp, or a transformer for a transformer, then it's hardly their fault if it all looks different is it? Taking the transformer out of the equation seems a good way of keeping things simple and reducing variation.

 

[Bul]

What kind if elaboration are you looking for?
They are more efficient as you get more lumens per circuit watt
They are more durable as they last longer and can take a bit more rough treatment
And the colour temp speaks for itself, it higher therefore a cleaner/whiter light

I just didn't understand how you get more lumens per watt from 12v lamps, and what is different that they last longer.?
Im all for learning a bit more