Can I replace 12v GU10 with LED bulbs?

longwalks1

We have about 15 x 12v 20W GU10 (they have the 2 small pin connectors) bulbs in the kitchen (we inherited that amount), so am guessing each one has its own small transformer?
Can we replace them all with a LED dimmable bulb, say 4w or 5w? Would they just be a straight swap, and still use the existing transformers, or is it more involved?

And if its possible, wheres best to buy 15 new bulbs please?

alumende27

It depends. Transformers for 12v downlighters typically don't support the low current draw that LED bulbs use and will usually either not work at all, flicker or flash, and may also not support dimming at all. Easy enough to find out though...

You may need to replace with something like this (which does support LEDs and can dim them if the LEDs are dimmable)

http://www.varilight.co.uk/configurator/product.php?code=yt70lz

TheCyclingProgrammer

I suspect you mean MR16 bulbs if they are 12v, GU10 bulbs are 240v. MR16 have two pins, GU10 have a push and twist mechanism.

We just replaced all of our MR16 kitchen lights. Having done some research and also spoken to an electrician I trust the general advice is not to bother trying to retrofit LEDs to these fittings. You are better off switching to 240v lights and buying suitable GU10 LEDs.

I bought new spotlights, removed the existing ones and the transformers and connected them up myself but if you're not confident with electrics then call an electrician in - its not a big job. I bought mine from Downlights.co.uk - I bought 6 Aurora Enlite fire-rated GU10 downlights and Aurora 5W 3000K dimmable bulbs for £78 including delivery. The bulbs are OK (I had planned to go with Megaman bulbs but they were out of stock), cooler than the old bulbs we had so took a bit of getting used to (they are in a kitchen) but good for the price.

alumende27

Can you share your research? I always understood 12V lights to be more reliable as they don't have to pack in all the transformer electronics into the tiny space in the bulb. Having the external transformer is more reliable in the long term.

Perhaps that's just the spin from the transformer manufacturers, but it would be nice to have some real world numbers to understand the difference in reliability.

Niv

I replaced all my GU10 bulbs (50W each!) with 2.5W LEDs with no issues (not dimmable though), however as a previous poster has said, it may be that you have MR16's.

Chrishazle

I replaced the 12V G4 bulbs in our cooker hood with LED capsules. The filament bulbs used to blow after about a month, the LED capsules have been in for many months now and are still going strong!

TheCyclingProgrammer

dsdhall wrote: »

Can you share your research? I always understood 12V lights to be more reliable as they don't have to pack in all the transformer electronics into the tiny space in the bulb. Having the external transformer is more reliable in the long term.

Perhaps that's just the spin from the transformer manufacturers, but it would be nice to have some real world numbers to understand the difference in reliability.

Just based on my electrician's recommendation and also the owner of Well Lit (who does post on here I think) said they don't stock MR16 LEDs and that I would be better with mains voltage GU10s - I can't remember the reason off the top of my head but they did suggest that GU10s were much less hassle. Unfortunately I don't have much more data than that.

Either way OP would probably have to replace all of their transformers as well as the bulbs.

almillar

I'm replacing my MR16 (pins like the bottom of a nail, DC, need an external transformer) with GU10 (pins like the head of a nail, AC, no external transformer needed) as they go, just because of the wider choice of GU10 available, and the simplicity of just replacing the bulb, rather than worrying about whether the transformer is faulty, or will have issues with the 'draw' of an LED.

Risteard

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

I suspect you mean MR16 bulbs (sic) if they are 12v, GU10 bulbs are 240v. (sic)

MR16 lamps technically refer to those with a multifaceted reflected at 16 eights of an inch (i.e. 2"). So really it's GU5.3 - although the term MR16 lamps is commonly used to mean the same thing, so would generally be understood.

GU10 lamps are 230V.

flashg67

When I swapped all of my 12v MR16s for 240v GU10 (LED) fittings, I had to add an earth connection to the fittings - the 12v didn't have an earth connected

TheCyclingProgrammer

flashg67 wrote: »

When I swapped all of my 12v MR16s for 240v GU10 (LED) fittings, I had to add an earth connection to the fittings - the 12v didn't have an earth connected

Same here, my transformers and fittings were connected to the lighting circuit with twin core flex (no earth on the fitting or the transformer) with the earths connected in with a connector block so I had to swap this for T+E to connect up the new fittings. No big deal, just a bit more hassle.