thats wat wilts do em for down my area, maybe somewhere on the internet will do em cheaper perhaps?

What sort of price are people paying for the JCC fire rated downlights with the megaman lamp included?

Thanks folks. Have now ordered 8 for a room in my house. I got one from a lighting store first for £12 to try out and it seems ok. Slightly less directional than the halogen in there at the moment. If they turn out  ok I have about 20 more to swap out in other rooms.

I've had 8 or so of the Aurora 9w cool white versions in some external downlighters for best part of 2 years now with no probs, have returned a few of the 11w versions though.

I don't think it's so much the quality of light, but more the intensity and direction of the light, the colour is almost the same as halogen, if not a little warmer. I've used several of the PAR38 type CFL's, whilst I find these are good replacements for general low-level downlighting, they are no good for high-level, nor for directional spotlighting as they have a 110deg beam angle.

With regards the failures, the problem is that they are still in the early stages, and they try to cram too much into a small lamp, the result is the electronics are probably not that good, the lamp is not that big for the power required, and there is not much free air flow so they may not last as long as they should.

I have a customer that uses the aurora ones who had a few go, but I haven't any users of the megaman ones. I would return them if they are not lasting a reasonable length of time, or speak to megaman.

Btw Jerry, don't forget you cannot use CFL's like halogens, CFL's like to run for longer periods, at least 20minutes at a time, otherwise you will undoubtedly shorten their life. At the moment I think the CFL/Halogen choice has to be thought out carefully, but it gives you more options and I'm sure they will improve in time.

Has anybody actually worked out how much you "save" by using energy saving bulbs? They cost more and quite often involve changing fittings (as JerryD pointed out), most can't be dimmed (which can save money off the cost of running normal lamps) and they are normally not as bright/effective as normal lamps.
It is like fitting solar panels etc, it takes about 15 to 20 years for the install to start paying for itself. Not many people will still be living in the same house in 20 years time...

I currently have 7 x 50W halogen and 1 x 9W megaman in my office while I wait for the rest to arrive.  It's clear the 9W isn't a direct replacement for the 50W but I think the brightness will be fine for my purposes and I'm sure the 11W would be fine for most people.

The one I have is a warm white version and the colour seems to be a pretty good match once it's wramed up. Other colour temperatures are available.

Overall I don't think I would use them in a loo where they would still be warming up as you turn them off on the way out but I'll report back when I have all 7 converted.

LED's still aren't quite there. These Respondalight LED downlights seem to be the best at the moment but are v.expensive and the specs suggest they aren't wquite as bright as a 35W halogen. If I remember correctly they claim "upto 500 Lumens". A 35W halogen can manage 600. A 50W can make 900-1000.

http://www.realworlddesigns.co.uk/respondalight.php

Reports on other forums suggest the beam angle is a bit narrow and has more sharply defined edges.

Personally I doubt there will ever be a good LED GU10 because LEDs that bright need heatsinks. Not because they waste a lot of heat but because they can't tollerate the little they do produce.

One thing often forgotten is that the heat 'saved' by not having tungsten bulbs is replaced by the central heating. Swings and Roundabouts.