GU10 LED Lamps

Halogen GU10 lamp caps have been a staple in British households for decades, being one of the most recognisable light bulbs out there. However, the LED revolution of recent times has introduced us to GU10 LED lamps, which offer the same classic design but with increased efficiency. In this article, we will explain why it is time to make the switch over to LED GU10 bulbs and brighten your home in style! Pre-existing problems with GU10 lamp caps Alan Tulla, the technical editor at Lux, took a look at GU10 lamps over three years ago, and found they were lacking in some departments. He stated that none of the lamps available had a clearly distinct edge and many didn’t have a smooth gradation of light from the centre to the outside. Another problem was variety: all the lamps had very similar beam widths, which appeared wider than the figures quoted on the packaging. Another negative feature for many GU10 lamps was the power rating which was often minuscule; for instance, the ‘Compton’ has a power rating of 0.41. This is compared to the higher end of the spectrum - the Verbatim GU10 which has a power rating of 0.96. Although light output is usually measured in watts, the power rating is important. A low power rating means that the light has to draw more current. For electricians, this is a hassle, as they must resize fuses in larger domestic houses in order to compensate for the poor power factor.View the GU10 LED Lamps The times have changed: improvements made to GU10 lamps Lux conducted testing on the new ‘breed’ of LED GU10 lamp caps at the Lighting Association laboratories in Telford. Alan Tulla notes that the lamps they tested were under regulations stating that the lumens quoted on the packaging must be contained within a 90-degree beam. However, not all the manufacturers did this, which led to some confusion: Sparks will discuss only the GU10 lamps that followed these guidelines. Tulla was deeply impressed by Integral LEDs GU10 lamp offering, which he gave a four out of five-star rating. He stated that: This is another GU10 with a high colour rendering index, CRI, of 98. It really does make a difference in domestic and hotel locations. The beam is broadly circular and has a soft edge. It’s a nice looking lamp. Sparks sells a wide range of Integral LED and Megaman GU10 LEDs. The 6W Classic PAR16 from Integral LED comes in at an incredible £4.20 (including VAT), which is great value for money. This non-dimmable LED lamp incorporates a stylish engineered lens with an affordable GU10 lamp cap. This lamp from the ‘Classic’ range offers directional light with a beam angle that closely mirrors that of familiar halogen lamps. It also boasts the energy-saving and long-life benefits of LED lighting. The CRI rating is above 80, offering a high quality colour rendering. A wide range of Integral LED GU10 bulbs can be found on our site here. Megaman offers a similar quality of GU10 LEDs, with great energy ratings, high CRI’s and low costs. What’s more, the 4.5W GU10 LED Spotlight is priced exactly the same as Integral LED’s Classic PAR16 at £4.20 (including VAT). It is the ideal LED spotlight for retrofit applications such as showrooms, reception areas, meeting rooms, offices, lounges and kitchens. The two products mentioned above have another similarity as well as price. They both hold an impressive A+ energy rating and a low wattage consumption rate. This makes them very eco-efficient and demonstrates how GU10 lamps have progressed for the better in recent years.Buy this LED Lamp at Sparks Why you should make the switch to GU10 LED bulbs The future of the GU10s clearly lies with the GU10 LED bulb. These lights are up to 90% more efficient than standard halogen GU10 bulbs, so a 5W bulb can provide up to 50W of light output. The lifespan can give you up to 50,000 hours of usage, and to put into perspective, at 4 hours use per day, this could equate to thirty years of use! There are also plenty of dimmable versions on the market including the aforementioned PAR16 from Integral LED. These bulbs are available in warm white or cool white colour temperatures, and a broad variety of colours - they are ideal for accent or display lighting. So what are you waiting for? Ditch your wasteful halogen GU10 lamps (if you didn’t do this yet) and replace then with the stylish, eco-friendly LED lamps today.

We get asked hundreds of questions concerning how to do more energy-saving lighting, from, "Do I need to replace all my downlights with LED lights" to "do you have low voltage LED lights" and "is this LED lamp dimmable". Our consultants over the counter and on the phone at Sparks and Lights are ready to advise all those who want to save energy, so why not pop into our lighting showroom in Archway, North London, N19 5SE! Oh, by the way, they are doing some nice road repairs at the Archway gyratory, so it will be quite awesome when all these construction works are finished in a month or two... One of the questions people ask us is, How can I keep my existing low voltage downlights and use LED lamps? Many times the low-voltage LED lamps are either more expensive or they may not work with the existing installation. Furthermore, nobody wants to "rip out all the 12V downlights" in the kitchen and in the bathroom, just so that he would install GU10 downlights that work with LED lamps. So at Sparks, we have a simple solution to this situation: GU10LH + 141724 The GU10LH Lampholder is a simple mains voltage lamp holder with tails that can be installed in the low voltage downlight to convert it to mains voltage GU10 recessed lamp. Of course, the 12V driver must be removed (and the MR16 lamp holder too, if possible). Adding and installing this GU10 lampholder by a registered electrician (please, don't DIY this one!) will allow you to convert a low-voltage downlight into a GU10 downlight. Megaman LED Lamps - retrofit dimmable GU10 lamp offering a warm white or cool white light, the ideal LED lamp for your ceiling light. This LED light bulb is dimmable with a leading edge or a trailing edge dimmer; in other words, you can dim this LED lamp even without having to install a LED dimmer.Buy GU10 LED Lamps at Sparks So you don't need to dig out and replace your existing wall dimmer - you simply install this Megaman 5.5W GU10 LED lamp, and you're sorted out! This is only one of the many ways of keeping your existing LV downlights yet using them with LED lamps. It requires the help of a registered electrician, but the procedure is simple. Here's a simple checklist of the features and benefits of such a situation: Do you want to keep your existing ceiling downlights in the kitchen or the bathroom? Check. Do you want to use energy saving lamps - LED lamps - and thus save £££ on your bills? Check. Do you want to minimize the electrical work done to your ceiling while switching to energy saving? Check. Do you want to dim your LED lamps without paying extra money for LED dimmers? Check. Do you want to want to switch to LED lamps and not spend tons of money on it? Check. Do you want to make sure you don't book your electrician again and again, but you have a clear job for him? Check. What do you think? If you are an electrician or a home owner, or you have found a better way to keep the existing low voltage recessed lights and yet use LED lamps, let us know in the comments.

In June 2014 Integral LED was awarded by "Which?" with the "Best Buy for GU10 LED bulb" in the categories of durability, performance, and energy saving. The tests they performed and the results they obtained can be found on their website, but one thing is certain: after rigorous testing against many of the big-name LED manufacturer brands, Which? has awarded the "Best Buy (Spotlights)" in June 2014 to the Integral LED made GU10 PAR16 5.3W 3000K non-dimmable LED lamp.October 2022 update: this particular LED lamp has been discontinued and replaced by the more energy-saving and energy-efficient GU10 lamps on our website. What we are talking about is a retrofit LED lamp that delivers a warm light and brightness, being the equivalent to a 50W halogen bulb (see the manufacturer announcement on their blog). Also, this LED lamp features quad-high output Everlight LEDs, has an anti-glare refractor, and is finished in aluminum and plastic with a GU10 lamp cap and a thermally efficient body. Great for both commercial use and domestic applications. This LED light bulb is a perfect replacement for the once-efficient but now energy-wasting and quite inefficient 50W halogen lamps and this LED lamp can help you reduce your electricity bills by up to 85% instantly. Think about it: you can save money every month on electricity with a fast payback of less than a year! Buy GU10 LED LampsTechnical specifications for this Awarded LED Lamp Wattage: 5.3W (equivalent to 50W halogen lamp) Dimming: non-dimmable LED lamp Type: GU10 PAR16 LED light bulb Light color: warm white 3000K Anti-glare refractor, high quad output Everlight LEDs. Lumens: 350 useful lumens (370lm nominal) Lumens per watt: 69.8lm/W Construction: plastic and aluminium heat-sink Dimensions: 52mm length, 50mm diameter Mains voltage LED lamp, 50Hz IP rating: IP20 rated. Energy rating: A+ More specifications and technical details together with more other pictures and videos for this awarded BEST LED Spotlight in 2014 can be found via our dedicated page for this GU10LS5W LED lamp at SparksDirect.co.uk.Please note: this LED lamp has now been replaced by more energy-saving and energy-efficient LED lamps, all of which can be seen via GU10 LED Lamps.

When we talk about LEDs we talk a lot about about "lifespan" and "cost-over-time returns" but what does that actually mean? If you're paying £20 on an LED lightbulb, you'll want to know how long it's going to last.Note: the new LED Lamps are much cheaper, a full range can be found here. The Truth Behind LED Lifespan Estimates  LEDs are quite a new technology (despite being around for over fifty years), and there's not much of a consensus on what happens past the advertised 25-50,000 hour lifespans - if that's even ever happened "naturally." The lifespan of a lightbulb is an average: it means that during the product testing phase, about half the bulbs failed at 25,000-50,000 hours. Product testing can't always replicate real-life conditions, however. Streetlights and other outdoor lighting applications might have lifespan requirements higher than that, but otherwise we haven't really reached them. So all we know is what the manufacturer knows. But here's the thing: we're actually not all that sure what these estimates mean. At the end of that advertised lifespan, the LED isn't dead; the bulb is giving off about 70% of the light it gave off in the first place. At 70% brightness, the average person is going to notice that their LED lightbulb less bright. Theoretically, that LED lightbulb you splurged on will continue to shine until it becomes incredibly dim - even to the point of uselessness. That is, of course, if it doesn't break first...Full range of LED Lamps LED Failure, Stress Testing, and Where Warranties Come From There are a lot of electronics inside an LED light bulb. Generally, it's not usually the diode itself that fails - it's components like the heat sink, the transformers, the circuit board, and so on. The product testing phase attempts to replicate the real-world applications for which the bulb will be used, but much more quickly. For example, the transistors in LEDs can be destroyed by high temperatures, reducing their lifespan even as they are adopted by third-world lighting projects. So products are tested for extreme temperatures as well as thermal shock (by transferring from very hot to very cold environments), which will mostly affect the electronic components. Mechanical stress testing checks for failure when the luminaire is subjected to intense vibration or shock, which is useful for automotive applications. Since these vibrations amount to repeated shocks and jolts to the light, like being dropped over and over again, it's important to know. And if the product fails too quickly, it's sent back to the drawing board. Manufacturers will define "too quickly" differently - this is how warranties are set. Thanks to extreme stress testing, a manufacturer can canadian online pharmacy say that their product can be reasonably expected to last five or seven or however many years. So, there we have it: LEDs will last a long time unless something goes wrong, and we don't really know how long they'll last. We're sorry that's not a more conclusive answer, but it's what we have.