I have some flats fitted out with 50W halogen bulbs all through (ceiling fittings with 3 bulbs to each fitting). They are GU10 bulbs. Will I get enough light if I swap these for their LED equivalents?

I've just been pricing them up and one site I looked at said they weren't suitable for main lighting in a room. Aside from the energy saving angle, the flats have 11ft ceilings and the tenants will need steps to change the bulbs. As LEDs are supposed to last much longer I thought I might not bother providing steps and just change the bulbs myself between lets.

Would appreciate some advice if anyone has any experience of using LED lighting.

In my experience LED lights are not useable as a main source of light. The beam is very narrow, and the output is just not good enough. Also the light is very blue, clinical. They would be OK for accent lighting only. I use Megaman GU10 CFLs 11W, these are longer than a regular GU10, so check they fit into your fittings but they should last 15000 hrs. The light output is still not the same as a halogen ... more white than yellow, and less of a spotlight effect, they also don't 'throw' the light as well. 11W is supposed to be eqivalent to a 50W halogen, but in fact the light source isn't as bright... but for me worth it for the energy savings. Not cheap at £9 a pop, but better to pay for decent bulbs than cheap ones. B&Q had an offer on energy saving recessed light which I bought for the fittings but replaced the bulbs as they were hopeless.

http://www.gogreenlights.co.uk/lightbulbs/halogen_spot_LED.html (nothing to do with me but good concise info on the options)

I spoke with a couple of folk while I was researching which bulb to use and there seemed to be some rumblings of a decent LED bulb available soonish, which I think Phillips are developing, but it won't be cheap. Might be worth waiting for?

Like mook I have been swapping mine for the megaman gu10 compact fluorescents and I have them very good although they do take a little while to warm up.
I have tried LED's but the light output is inadequate for most situations.

LEDs are for the future...

Raw power: A 50W halogen downlight produces around 800-950 Lumens. Typical LED GU10 bulbs produce around 150 to 350 L. Specialist LED die have been produced that generate as much light as a 50W halogen but typically they need special heatsinks and could not easily be made in GU10 format. LEDs do not like to run hot and if allowed to run hot they have a short life. This appears to limit the amount of light that an LED can produce at the moment. I believe the really bright LEDs are currently limited to custom lighting applications such as car headlamps where suitable heatsinks can be provided - but even then I think just the dipped beam is LED, typically the raised/full beam lamp is a conventional bulb.

Efficiency: The Building Regs define a Low Energy lamp as one that produces more than 40 lumens of light per watt of electrical power. Most flourescent lights beat that but a few of the smaller CFL bulbs are actually marginal. It's unlikely any LED bulb available on the high street achieves 40 L/W but prototype LEDs have achieved at least 113 L/W so there is plenty of potential for the future.

LEDs are being improved but IMHO they aren't quite there yet for general purpose lighting. Give it a few years though and they should be great.

LED technology is in its infancy, i wouldnt bother with these until they get a little more developed. You do have to spend alot of money on led's to get a high performance.

A cheaper alternative........swap all your 50watt lamps for either 35watt or even 20watt GU10's. Cheaper and cooler to run and from my experience the 35's are almost as bright as 50's and 20's are easily acceptable. This is something i have done for some of my customers and they have been very happy.

It might be cheaper for you to replace your fittings for a 18 or 28watt 2D or 4D fitting. A fitting can be bought for as little as £20.

Hope this helps.