Which GU10 LED To Replace Halogen Bulbs?
With low voltage lighting becoming more and more popular these days, many seek to replace their old-fashioned light bulbs with the fantastic, new and powerful LED bulbs coming on the market today.
For instance, it is very common to want to retire GU10 halogen bulbs and put in a few GU10 LED bulbs instead.
Naturally, people have some questions regarding how to do this right, so in this article I will try to address the most pressing ones.
First of all, a common question is "what type of GU10 LED should I get?".
Well, some of the answer lies in the question itself.
You see, by knowing that you need a GU10 (I assume you took out one of the old halogen bulbs and read the print on them), you already know that you need something rated for mains voltage - simply because all GU10 bulbs are intended for mains voltage.
Some will also have heard that LED bulbs need a "driver" of some sort to work.
This is in reality what is called a "full wave rectifier", and will be built in, if you buy GU10 LEDs - since they are expected to work directly off mains voltage.
A full wave rectifier converts AC voltage to DC voltage, if you are curious about it.
If you bought GU5.
3 LED bulbs, you would be getting the low voltage version - in which case the low voltage transformer needed would have to provide full wave rectification on its outputs.
By the way, sometimes GU10 LED bulbs are referred to as MR16 LED's.
This can be confusing, but one doesn't exclude the other, since GU10 refers to the type of base, and MR16 refers to the reflector - or the bulb itself.
MR stands for "Multifaceted Reflector" and the number 16 denotes the number of eights of an inch of the diameter of the front of the reflector.
MR types come with many other types of bases than just GU10, so if the package says "MR16 LED", you had better make sure it also says "GU10".
You should know that there are two basic choices when it some to the color and "warmth" of the light from LED bulbs.
Originally, only a quite cold white light was available, but recently, warmer tones have come to market.
Lastly, many have dimmers on their halogen systems (something which halogen is good for), so you have to make sure you get LED replacements that allow dimming - as not all do.
For instance, it is very common to want to retire GU10 halogen bulbs and put in a few GU10 LED bulbs instead.
Naturally, people have some questions regarding how to do this right, so in this article I will try to address the most pressing ones.
First of all, a common question is "what type of GU10 LED should I get?".
Well, some of the answer lies in the question itself.
You see, by knowing that you need a GU10 (I assume you took out one of the old halogen bulbs and read the print on them), you already know that you need something rated for mains voltage - simply because all GU10 bulbs are intended for mains voltage.
Some will also have heard that LED bulbs need a "driver" of some sort to work.
This is in reality what is called a "full wave rectifier", and will be built in, if you buy GU10 LEDs - since they are expected to work directly off mains voltage.
A full wave rectifier converts AC voltage to DC voltage, if you are curious about it.
If you bought GU5.
3 LED bulbs, you would be getting the low voltage version - in which case the low voltage transformer needed would have to provide full wave rectification on its outputs.
By the way, sometimes GU10 LED bulbs are referred to as MR16 LED's.
This can be confusing, but one doesn't exclude the other, since GU10 refers to the type of base, and MR16 refers to the reflector - or the bulb itself.
MR stands for "Multifaceted Reflector" and the number 16 denotes the number of eights of an inch of the diameter of the front of the reflector.
MR types come with many other types of bases than just GU10, so if the package says "MR16 LED", you had better make sure it also says "GU10".
You should know that there are two basic choices when it some to the color and "warmth" of the light from LED bulbs.
Originally, only a quite cold white light was available, but recently, warmer tones have come to market.
Lastly, many have dimmers on their halogen systems (something which halogen is good for), so you have to make sure you get LED replacements that allow dimming - as not all do.
