I was wondering if anyone has any experience of Philips MASTERLine ES Low Voltage Halogen MR16.

I'm thinking about using these bulbs for the recessed fitting downlights we are having fitted in our bathroom - six in total. Philips claim that 30W is equivalent to a standard 50W dichroic MR16. Can anyone please comment on the validity of this? I'm wondering if six 45W would be too bright since they claim its equivalent to 75W.

Many thanks!

Philips Masterline ES are 12V DC dichoric MR16 halogen lamps that are coated with infrared coating with reflects heat back to the filament and therefore less current should pass through the filament to produce the required brightness.
Philips claims that these lamps have 40% less energy, 40% less then standard dichoric halogen lamps and 5,000 hours life, still producing 3000K color and consume 30W and produce similar intensity of probably 50W dichoric.
12V LED dichoric retrofit lamps are also available but with slightly less intensity, but still with much more energy efficiency and longer life and no heat.

I think the 30W would replace the 50W original. But i would not use the 45watter, as the conductive heat (the type the fixture has to handle; only the radiated heat is reduced compare to "classic" technology) of the 30WMasterLine would heat the same as the 50W "original", so the 45W might overheat it.

@dor123: LED for the same brightness AND beam angle would need ~15W to really replace 50W halogen, while dissipating the ~12W of conductive heat and at the same time keep junction temperature below 100degC (to ensure reasonable lifetime) is not feasible in MR16 form at all...
Those 3W "MR16" sold everywhere may reach the intensity, but only when you compare ~10deg beam angle LED with ~45deg beam angle 50W halogen... (the ~10W 10deg halogen would do the same job at fraction of the cost and CRI approaching 100).

Thanks Medev. I wasn't aware of the heating issue before.

I was wondering if the 35W with 60 degree beam angle would be okay to use as I'd like them to be just a little brighter.

Many thanks.

Can confirm that in many cases, the 30W IRC from Philips in fact exceeds the output of many generic 50W MR16 halogens and can also last longer.  If you can find the original versions with double ended capsule inside, these are truly excellent.  For cost reasons they changed recently to using a single ended IRC capsule inside like the Osram equivalent, which is still very good, but not so excellent as the originals from Philips.

Just an update. The Philips MasterLINE M16 halogens have proved to be excellent. Not had to changed a single bulb in for 4.5 years since I originally posted this thread.
With regard to what James was saying, I bought a stockpile of the original bulbs so I have new old stock.

We having a new bathroom installed in our en-suite and I'm considering getting Philips Master GU10 LEDs for that one:

http://www.lighting-gallery.net/index.php?topic=4028.msg26373#msg26373

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Many thanks!

Not recommends LED at all, because of their color quality: http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-107635