Replacing halogen by LED

• Posted on 5 December 2022
• By Lisanne
• 0

Did you know that, in September 2018, all halogen lamps were banned in the European Union?

After the ban on normal light bulbs first, it was to be expected that the halogen lamps would be next. A big reason for this was the sustainable alternatives. A calculation showed that in 2018, there were still around 500 million halogen lamps in use throughout the whole of Europe. If all these lamps were to be replaced by LED alternatives, each household would save €50 on an annual basis. This would also save enough energy to power 11 million households! Nowadays, the technique has involved in a way that replacing a single halogen light by a LED light, will save at least €50 per year. Imagine how much money your would save if you would replace all of your lights by LED lights..

Advantages of LED lighting

LED lamps have a longer lifespan than halogen lamps, which means you will have a quick pay-back on the somewhat higher purchase price. So why is a LED lamp so incredible sustainable and why does LED replace halogen nowadays? Three things:

It might be hard to believe, but one LED lamp lasts on average 35x longer then a halogen lamp. That’s almost as long as you got to payback your mortgage!

In addition to the longer life span, an LED lamp also consumes considerably less electricity. Compared to a halogen lamp, a LED lamp consumes on average up to 80% less electricity.

Another important advantage, when you compare LED lamps to halogen lamps, is that LED’s hardly heat up. And when a lamp will feel warm on the outside, it means that it is wasting some of its energy on heating. This means that LED lights do use all of their energy for lighting and not for heating. In total 70 - 80% of the energy of a halogen lamp is lost in the heat. And do you remember burning your fingers when you ever tried to replace a lamp? Yes, that was halogen.

How to switch from halogen to LED?

When buying a halogen lamp we always looked at the wattage. The wattage usually showed how bright a light would shine. Although this worked pretty well with halogen, brightness is not measured in wattage. To do so, we use another entity: lumen. Lumen tells us all about the brightness of a lamp, while wattage still tells us about the energy consumption of a lamp.

If you want to learn more about the difference between wattage and lumen, read our blog about this topic.

Fitting

It is important to know which fitting your lamp has. In total there are about 100 different fittings. The most common fittings are the ones with the letter E and the ones with the letters GU. A fitting with a letter E is always a rotating fitting and a fitting with the letters GU is always a plug fitting.

E27 is a very common fitting and we also indicate this one as a big fitting. The rotating fitting is 27 mm and that’s where the name comes from. The fitting uses 230V.

E14 is the smaller brother of E27. The fitting is the same, but 14 mm wide. E14 is also suitable for 230V.

A GU10 fitting is a pluggable fitting. It uses a bayonet fitting with 2 pins, which you must place in the lamp fixture. Then you must turn the lamp a quarter to secure it to the fixture. This fitting is mostly used for spot lights. It is easy to replace GU10 halogen with LED.

Voltage

It is also important to know the voltage of the lamp in case of a LED replacement for halogen. In houses, the voltage that comes out of our sockets is usually 220V/230V. Some lamps also use 220V/230V, so you can just plug in and they will work. Other lamps use 12V, which is mostly the case with halogen lamps, but this is also common with LED spotlighting. If you wish to use a 12V lamp on a 220V/230V socket, you will have to use a transformer to change the voltage.

Colour

When you wish to replace your halogen bulb with LED, it is also good to take the colour of the light into consideration. To indicate this colour we also use the word temperature and the entity Kelvin (K). With a low number, e.g. 2700K, the light is orange of colour and feels warm and cosy. With a high number e.g. 5000K, the light is more white or even blue of colour and this feels a little colder. The colour temperature of a halogen light bulb was always pretty much the same: between 2000K and 3000K.

It is important to consider the usage of the light and also the place of the lighting. Do you whish to use the light for a cosy movie night or to read a book? Do you want to use it in the office or in de garden?

Dimmable options

Alright, not all was bad about the halogen lamp. You have for example the fact that all of the lamps were per definition dimmable. That was quite handy! Nowadays, when buying LED lighting, you will first have to consider if you want to have a dimmable version or a non-dimmable one.

Replace halogen bulbs with LED

Now it’s time to actually replace your old lights

Step 1: Determine which halogen bulbs you have. As we explained, both the fitting and the voltage are important. A fitting is suitable for 12V or 230V.

Step 2: Choose the right colour temperature. Are you satisfied with the colour of your halogen bulbs? Then choose an LED lamp with a light colour between 2000 and 3000K. Do you want to use the light to read or work? Then pick a colour between 5000K and 6000K.

Step 3: Choose whether you want to go for dimmable lighting. Contrary to a halogen lamp, a LED lamp is not dimmable by definition. So when ordering a lamp, check carefully whether it is dimmable or non-dimmable.