If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you are looking for a gu10 LED bulb – isn’t there? You may have heard that you can replace your old halogen bulbs with a newer LED bulb in the same form factor – but with a much reduced power consumption and a longer lifespan. This is true, but as with so many things, there are some exceptions and caveats to be aware of.
First though, if you are not sure what exactly the acronym LED means, or what GU10 is, then here is a short explanation. LED is short for Light Emitting Diode – and the LED as such has been known to consumers for decades. The standby light on your tv, indicator lights on your computer, the illuminated digits on your alarm clock – all are LED’s. It is only in recent years that they have become powerful enough to actually use for general romm lighting. GU10 is merely a certain type of bulb base. It could be a threaded base as on old-fashioned light bulbs – this type has the prefix “E” – or it could be the “GU”, which consists of two pins. There are other types as well. The GU10 is meant for mains voltage, whereas the GU5.3 is the low voltage type.
To successfully replace your old halogen GU10′s with their LED counterparts, you need to know a little about the lighting system as a whole: – Is it a low voltage system, with something like a 12v transformer or similar, or is it a mains voltage system? If you know the old bulbs are GU10, then there is a very high probability that you have a mains voltage system, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure. The voltage rating will be printed on the base of the bulbs themselves most likely. – Is your current system outfitted with a dimmer? Many halogen systems are, so if this is true in your case, you need to look for GU10 LED bulbs that are dimmable. Not all are, so make sure you have the right ones. More to come at a later date.
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