LED GU10 bulbs

Jez

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,075
Are these any use? I have recently had my house fitted out with absolutely tons of recessed down lighting using GU10 bulbs.

It looks fantastic, however my electricity bill for the last quarter certainly doesnt. I was under the impression that you couldn't get energy savers for GU10 fittings, but i have just stumbled across LED versions.

Who has them and do they work as well as the incandescents? They are expensive but i am thinking that they shouldn't really blow once fitted.
 
Absolute CRAP in my experience. We have a 4xGU10 adjustable spotlight in the kitchen, tried a pack of 4 LED's instead of the halogens.
I would honestly have got better lighting from 4 candles on the worktop. It was like a dim blue glow that was nowhere near enough.

Buy one pack and try them for yourself before splashing out on loads of them, they aren't cheap.
 
PLEASE NOTE: AS WITH ALL LED ENERGY SAVING BULBS THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR USE WITH DIMMER SWITCHES AS THIS WILL DAMAGE THE BULBS STRAIGHT AWAY.
Click to expand...

Crap, all the adverts (on ebay at least) say this.

Who has a spotlighting system which isnt bloody dimmable, i'd seriously get a tan if i ran my system full power :/
 
Lopéz said:
Absolute CRAP in my experience. We have a 4xGU10 adjustable spotlight in the kitchen, tried a pack of 4 LED's instead of the halogens.
I would honestly have got better lighting from 4 candles on the worktop. It was like a dim blue glow that was nowhere near enough.

Buy one pack and try them for yourself before splashing out on loads of them, they aren't cheap.
Click to expand...

Looking worse and worse, plus if they dont work in dimmable fittings (ive gone all high tech and gone for remote control programmable dimmers) then its game over anyway.
 
Jez said:
Are these any use? I have recently had my house fitted out with absolutely tons of recessed down lighting using GU10 bulbs.

It looks fantastic, however my electricity bill for the last quarter certainly doesnt. I was under the impression that you couldn't get energy savers for GU10 fittings, but i have just stumbled across LED versions.

Who has them and do they work as well as the incandescents? They are expensive but i am thinking that they shouldn't really blow once fitted.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the these?
 
Kate's Dad has some energy saving GU10's which are apparently quite good but they are pretty bulky.

Just for you Jez - I swapped back to the LED's to take a pic :D
Excuse the mess, Kate just cooked dinner! Both taken on the same settings

Halogens:
Light1.jpg


LED:
Light2.jpg


As you can see, there is significantly less light with the LED and a distinct blue cast to the light - much like LED sidelights give in a car. Shadows cast also seem much harsher. Those pics are actually pretty spot on with the differences, just had a look now.

No way would I want to actually do anything under that amount of light - ie read/build a PC/cook/wash up/iron a shirt.
They'd be alright for mood lighting in a living room I suppose, or in a hallway or maybe bathroom. Not really bedroom material - the light is quite clinical.

Hope that helps a bit!
 
Normal LED GU10's will be really really dim, no light at all...

You can get Luxeon type LED's tho, these are far far better, they give out lots of light.

A 5W Luxeon should be similar to a 20W halogen tho so you'd still need a fair few of them....
 
:) Now hows that for service! Ask a long shot question and actually get pictures showing before and after!

Yeah i agree the normal light is much much better, plus with the dimmable issue i am buggered anyway :(
 
Jez said:
:) Now hows that for service! Ask a long shot question and actually get pictures showing before and after!
Click to expand...

Yep, and now I can't be arsed to get up and swap them back so we now have a WW2 blackout-style kitchen :D
 
Don't plan on installing any in your bedrooms. When you turn the lights off they still glow! I like to sleep in pitch black so absolutely useless to me. Ended putting a 4 pack of them back on the bay, at least I got some of my money back (cost me a Tenner)
 
I have a spotlight with 6 GU10 bulbs and some blue LEDs (very 22nd century Lol), they do draw more power than what was there before (a normal 80W ES bulb fitting) but they dont half give out some light (and heat which is good for this time of year!)

I did look at buying some LED bulbs, but when I saw them in the actual lights (@ Homebase) they gave hardly any light (albeit it was daytime but TBH in the office (where I am now) I need bright bulbs - eyes get tired.

Do you need a lot of light in some areas Jez - you could mix and match ... although that might blow your whole house up Im not sure lol
 
MattandJet said:
I have a spotlight with 6 GU10 bulbs and some blue LEDs (very 22nd century Lol), they do draw more power than what was there before (a normal 80W ES bulb fitting) but they dont half give out some light (and heat which is good for this time of year!)
Click to expand...

I have over 25 of the damn things downstairs :D Probably why my electricity bill is so high and my gas bill seems quite low!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom