mains voltage spotlights

Doglover88

thinking of having them fitted in my kitchen/diner/lounge (all knocked into one) but several people tell me the bulbs have a very short life is this true? They're the GU10 lamps i think. My boss reckons he changes a couple a month surely this must be a wiring or installation fault?
many thanks in advance
glen

se999

Hi,

I assume you mean the flush to the ceiling spots. I think we had the same ones. The bulbs are relatively expensive at normal shops, but at that time were cheap from IKEA, so we bought a batch as a safety supply when we went as we weren't close.

Main area had about 20 spots, none went in 18 months. The study only had 4, but I think we probably used 3 replacements there. 2 loft rooms 4@ again no replacements needed. Also probably another 8 in bathrooms. (You need special sealed spots over showers). Not got a clue why the study ones seemed to go more frequently, no problems elsewhere.

Not sure if it seems like using a lot of bulbs simply because you have lots in each room! Also with them being flush to the ceiling it's normally a stepladder job, so seems more hassle than normal light bulbs.

Hope this helps your decision.

Jem8472

some ppl do seem to have more problems with halogen bulbs than others. We put a fitting in at home and the bulbs have lasted over 2 years and they are even on a dimmer that usually reduceds the life of halogen bulbs.

I dont know excatly what causes it, but we were told that halogen are very senstive to power surgers even more than normal bulbs so if you live out in the stick they prob wont last as long. But I am not sure how true that is.

I always found that customers that had installed halogen in kitchens they said the bulbs always went quickly, I think it was to do with the heat from cooking and stuff like that.

Spots are nice but they are very bright and a very white light. Also because they are a focused beam u need more of them to light a room if they are going to be your only light source. It is prob good to get a standard or table lamp so you can have a bit softer light.

chrisw

I was looking at the Philips bulbs in Tesco and they seem to be priced according to lifetime. The cheapest are given as lasting for 1 year assuming 3hrs use per day. I think the dearest were about 3 years.

basill

I think the ones included with light fittings tend to be of the cheap and short lived variety, three out of four in my kitchen certainly all failed within 6 months, I have replaced them with a mixture of Homebase long life and some from my local electrical suppliers, so far so good.

I have a triple 50w 240v fitting in my study, this has a special slow start dimmer switch ie set the level with the knob as normal but when switched on the lights fade up gently, none of these bulbs has blown yet. This came from B&Q and as well as extending the bulbs life ( I think) is quite a nice effect.

While looking for a dimmer I noticed that many dimmers are only rated to half the total wattage of halogen bulbs compared to normal.


Basill

Doglover88

cheers people, been told normal dimmers are 400w rated (so can run up to 8 lamps off one), or you can get better, 1000w rated ones, so runnig up to 20 from the one dimmer. I will be using dimmers and the lounge/living area will be on 2, maybe 3 circuits so i can create different lighting effects
glen

IJJoseph

I have 4 GU10s on one track in my kitchen. Was going through 50W bulbs at about 1 or 2 every other month since I have dropped to 35W no problems.

Cagey

I look after the lighting at my work. I find that GU 10`s don`t last as long as a 12 volt dichroics but you don`t have the problem of replacing transformers when you fit GU10. You pays your money & takes your chance.
Dimmers are not recommended with GU10`s.