Friday 1 March 2013

LED Hut LED Lighting Review

Sometimes a review opportunity comes along that speaks to you so much, you just can't help but get a little bit excited about it.  It may not be the most glamorous product, but you know, sometimes it's genuinely an item you really need and can get behind.  This is one such time.  I was, and still am, honestly excited by the chance to review LED Hut's LED lighting range.

Five! Count them!
Let me explain.  The people who built my house thought it would be a great idea to fit spotlights in the kitchen.  Yeah, they look great.  But really.  Who needs five 60watt bulbs in a room that is only 3m x 4m?  Honestly?  It's like walking out on stage at the London Palladium, only without Bruce Forsyth.  And the cost?  Well, you don't want to know.  Seriously, it's been costing me a fortune.  So when the opportunity arose to try out some LED lights, I knew which room I wanted to concentrate on.

The good people at LED Hut have a bulb selector on their website, so even if like me, you know nothing, they can direct you towards the right bulb, just by matching the fitting of your existing bulb, and then choosing from the range.  And if you're really stuck, they've got a telephone helpline, and I'm sure they've been asked far dafter questions than "What bulbs do I need?"  I had to ask, because none really looked like the ones I was replacing.

Picture courtesy of LEDHut
With a bit of help, I selected these High power spotlight bulbs to screw in replacing my old incandescent bulbs, which I seem to have spent a lot of time replacing over the 8 months since we moved in here (I don't know how old they were when we got here, but I'm guessing they weren't new).  The new bulbs have a 5 year warranty, and should last around 25 times longer than my old bulbs, which means they should last me a good 20 years.  No more climbing on chairs for me!

More importantly, we've gone down from 60watts per bulb to 4.6 watts.  That's more than a 90% saving, which in reality means I'm looking to save around £80 a year, for changing the lights in one room.  Imagine if I changed the rest of the bulbs in the house!

Don't get me wrong, there is a very slight difference in the amount of light, but it's actually an improvement.  While it's not quite as bright as before, that's not at all a bad thing, it's less blinding, less migraine inducing and far more comfortable.  And a big, big thing I've noticed is that it's a lot cooler and more comfortable to work in the kitchen.  With incandescent bulbs, and spotlights in particular, an awful lot of the energy is converted into heat rather than light, which is wasted in most cases.  In my kitchen it felt a bit like being under a sunlamp.  Now none of the energy is wasted and it's all converted into light, which means I only get hot from the cooker, not from above as well.

Squeaky is quite amused by the spotty lights.  They do take a little bit of getting used to, but you don't really spend a lot of time looking up at lightbulbs when they're off.  Or I don't anyway, maybe I'm strange.  The new bulbs are a little bit smaller than my old incandescents, but that again is a good thing. The old bulbs were a very snug fit in the fittings, and extremely difficult to remove, whereas the LED bulbs have enough space for me to grip them to turn in & out without risking breaking the bulb.  There's much less risk of breaking a bulb with this particular one, as there's a lot less glass, the body of the bulb is metal.  There's also no toxic materials inside, so even if the bulb did somehow get damaged, there's no risk to your health like with other bulb types.

My brightly lit kitchen
LED Bulbs aren't a cheap option in the beginning.  The bulbs in my kitchen cost £11.62 each, meaning it would have cost me £58.10 to replace all the bulbs in the kitchen myself.  But looking at an £80 saving per year on my electricity bill, I'm in profit in 9 months.  And if they last twenty years, well, I'm laughing. No more bulbs to buy, cheaper bills, cooler kitchen.  It's just a case of balancing out the initial outlay with the saving.

The rest of my house is fairly awkward lighting-wise as well, they had some really strange ideas when they built this house.  Sadly, the bulbs that feature most heavily in the rest of the house are a fitting that LED Hut don't stock at present.  I'm keeping my eyes open for the future though, as I'd love to upgrade the rest of the house.  LED Hut have converted me to LED lighting.

Wondering whether LED is right for you?  Well, here's some facts that might help.

The average household lighting bill in the UK is around £300 per year.  Replacing existing halogen bulbs with LED bulbs can cut lighting costs by up to 90%, or an average of £270 a year!


LED light bulbs last 25-30 years, so no replacement costs.


LED bulbs use 90% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs.


A typical home switching all its halogen lights to LED could also save 6 tonnes of CO2.

Disclosure: I was provided with LED bulbs for one room free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I have found your post, it is very nice and your idea is very creative. you have defined the good use of LED Lighting Australia, it's less blinding, less migraine inducing and far more comfortable. And a big thing that it's a lot cooler and more comfortable to work in the kitchen.

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  2. Nice post and i used your products. I want to share my experience with this company, i was feeling hesitation as i saw too many bad reviews, but when i talk with customer service for further information, i feel some trust because the customer service was good enough to be satisfied.
    I bought 3 bulbs for testing the company, good arrived in 3 days after the order. i ll surely use ledhut again for further order of bulbs and tubes for my under constructed plaza.

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