Hi petermac: As you say the big problem with downlights is that they have a narrow beam which means you need more lights to cover an area than would be needed with a suspended light. I had many arguments with architects on this very issue as they LOVE bare ceilings (very many years ago).
However, LED downlights do not have a narrow beam, they have a beam angel of 90deg or more, whereas the halogen lamps are around 55-deg. The LED “lamp” is also close to the bottom of the fitting, rather than high inside the fitting; which means that LED will give a good spread of light, so replacing downlights with integral LED lights is very effective.
Have a read of this light and it’s warranty period:
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I have seen LED downlights with beams from 35 to 140 degrees. One needs to pay attention to the packaging. I also found one that could not be mounted inside any kind of canister as is common for downlights; it would overheat in just a few minutes and start flashing! It was apparently designed for a shop display case. It was otherwise impressive, but useless under most circumstances.
Not this retired architect! I always designed for functional effectiveness first; style was part of the fine-tuning afterwards, not the primary objective. Don’t get me started on the crazy dogboxes that seem to be the rage in housing estates these days.
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… possibly a topic in itself - the division and division of blocks of land with massive houses that extend to fence lines and have no yard, no lawn, no room to swing a cat (oops, they should be inside anyway), but often a dog, a big one, and no parking for the 4 cars each that spill out onto the road to be parked both sides constricting flow like the clogged veins of a deep fried food addict, ever reducing urban speed limits in answer to increasing safety issues. Going inside these modern live-in coffins requires removing your soul and all reasonable standards before entering and placing them in a small envelope that is best left in the glove box of your car during the visit … where the hell are the councils in all this? a cynic might suggest they are just milking the rates and couldn’t care less, but it’s probably worse than that !
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My goodness draughtrider, your imagery takes my breath away. Do you enter the ASCCA Creative Writing Competitions (Google it)? You should!
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I can understand your reluctance in thinking the outlay to install new LED fixtures would defeat the purpose of saving money on your energy bill, but I can say it really is worth it for a couple of major reasons (at least major to my family lol). First off of course is the power saving, which we really noticed in our old house. In our new house we installed the newer generation of the same LED we had in the old (made by Brightgreen), and these came with the plug in option as @allandorrington suggested - this eliminates any electrician call outs for a failed globe (new version globe comes with driver built in to the unit). Simply remove downlight, unplug and replace, which we haven’t had to do as yet. The third added bonus which we noticed a bit in Sydney but even more here in Tamworth, is the Brightgreen LED’s don’t attract bugs as much as other downlights or normal globes - no clouds of moths and bugs hanging around when the lights are on, even outside. We went with warm white everywhere except for the pantry, garage and over the workbenches - as we find it a more comfortable living light (cool can be quite harsh). Couldn’t be more happy or recommend them highly enough - and Lighting Matters (the supplier we got them off) even did a lighting plan for free off our house plans, which was pretty close to what the sparky contracted to the builder suggested as well. We did a couple of minor changes but overall went with what they suggested. My personal opinion of course but I do strongly feel when installed correctly and chosen properly LED’s are well worth it.
I had a lamp given to me for reading in my bedroom, it cost a lot but I have now had it for around 15 years without having to change the bulb. Wish I knew what type of bulb it is, LED or Halogen or something else.
@jennika1958, if you can find out the brand and model of the lamp (maybe on a label on the base) or else post a pic of the bulb, we might be able to help figure out what it is.
Thanks. I’ve taken a couple of photos but don’t know how to send them to you.
Two easy ways to show it to “us” @jennika1958, one is to copy it (eg open it in Windows Photo Viewer and Ctrl-C) and then paste it (Ctrl-V) into the posting window; the other is to click on the upload icon at the top of the posting window 
and select the photo file.
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LED lights claim to last up to 25000 hours. However, I have found that the majority last nothing like this. The worst seem to be the spot/down lights. I have tried cheap and more expensive brands and they all fail within a year. I think the issue is heat and components that have a very narrow tolerance. These lights should be the last I ever need to purchase as theoretically they should outlive me, but this isn’t the case. I have given up returning them to the store for a refund. What has been others experience with these lights.
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LED lights claim to last up to 25000 hours. However, I have found that the majority last nothing like this. The worst seem to be the spot/down lights. I have tried cheap and more expensive brands and they all fail within a year. I think the issue is heat and components that have a very narrow tolerance. These lights should be the last I ever need to purchase as theoretically they should outlive me, but this isn’t the case. I have given up returning them to the store for a refund. What has been others experience with these lights.
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Sounds like I need a computer which is getting fixed, only have phone. I hit the upload but don’t know what was uploaded.
It looks likely that it is a halogen bulb. G9 type I think. It can be replaced by an LED which runs much cooler and uses less power. For an example on EBay have a look here:
The 5W LED is about $5.
Oh also noticed it was a 12 Volt so you will need to source the 12 Volt type if it needs replacing not the 220-240 Volt type.
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That’s it, thank you. Do you know if there is a ordinary light bulb for house lighting that can work for a really long time like this one.
Best option is a good quality LED bulb. They are supposed to have a life up to 50,000 hours and use about 80% less energy than a conventional light globe (and less energy than cfls for the same lux output). Unlike compact fluorescent bulbs (cfl), they don’t need time to warm up to achieve their maximum light output.
They also run cold unlike other forms of light which means they should be a lower fire risk, especially when used in the ceiling cavity.
They will replace almost all bulbs, except those in high temperature environments such as the oven light.
They may cost more than cfls, but in the long term they pay for themselves with lower energy use than cfls.
We have gradually replacing our cfls with leds and wouldn’t ever use a cfl again as the led performance has been great.
I got 3 led bulbs the other day, says they are long life up to 25000 hours. Works great in the bathroom where I keep the light on all night.
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Beware when buying LED lamps from IKEA which have non-replaceable bulbs. I bought a floor lamp a number of years ago and it started to blink after the warranty period of several months (I don’t remember how many months, but definitely within a year). IKEA wouldn’t replace it, claiming it was out of warranty. Sure, the bulb might still go, but the control circuitry in the lamp was on the blink and the longevity of LED bulbs had been rendered useless.
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