Five things to consider before buying LED bulbs

As your incandescents burn out, it's a good time to consider switching to LED bulbs. By now, you probably know that LEDs have an impressive lifespan (20-something years!) and are very cost-effective. You probably also know that they're a pricey investment that can run five times more expensive than incandescents.

Despite the cost, now's the right time to switch to LEDs. These bulbs have made significant advances over the last few years, finally delivering the warm light incandescents have comforted us with for decades.

More than ever, there is also an overwhelming number of LED varieties, and choosing an LED is entirely different from picking up an incandescent. Before you head to the store, find out what you need to know about choosing the right LED bulbs.

Learn the lingo

Forget what you know about incandescents -- your watts are no good here.

When shopping for bulbs, you're probably accustomed to looking for watts, an indication of how bright the bulb will be. The brightness of LEDs, however, is determined a little differently.

Contrary to common belief, wattage isn't an indication of brightness, but a measurement of how much energy the bulb draws. For incandescents, there is an accepted correlation between the watts drawn and the brightness, but for LEDs, watts aren't a great predictor of how bright the bulb will be. (The point, after all, is that they draw less energy.)

For example, an LED bulb with comparable brightness to a 60-watt incandescent is only 8 to 12 watts.

But don't bother doing the math -- there isn't a uniform way to covert incandescent watts to LED watts. Instead, a different form of measurement should be used: lumens.

The lumen (lm) is the real measurement of brightness provided by a light bulb, and is the number you should look for when shopping for LEDs. For reference, here's a chart that shows the watt-lumen conversion for incandescents and LEDs.

(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)

As you can see in the chart above, an incandescent can draw up to five times as many watts for the same number of lumens. Get a sense of the brightness (in lumens) you need before heading to the store, and throw away your affinity for watts.

Mind the color

You can always count on incandescents providing a warm, yellowish hue. But LEDs come in a wide range of colors.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET)

As shown off by the Philips Hue, LED bulbs are capable of displaying an impressive color range, from purple to red, to a spectrum of whites and yellows. For the home, however, you're likely looking for something similar to the light that incandescents produce.

The popular colors available for LEDs are "warm white" or "soft white" and "bright white."

Warm white and soft white will produce a yellow hue, close to incandescents, while bulbs labeled as bright white will produce a whiter light, closer to daylight and similar to what you see in retail stores.

If you want to get technical, light color (color temperature) is measured in kelvins. The lower the number, the warmer (yellower) the light. So, your typical incandescent is somewhere between 2,700 and 3,500K. If that's the color you're going for, look for this range while shopping for LED bulbs.

Set your savings expectations

As Martin LaMonica points out, LED bulbs are like hybrid cars: cheaper to operate but pricey upfront.

When switching to LED bulbs, don't expect to save buckets of cash. Instead, think of it as an investment. Eventually, the LED bulbs will pay off, and in the meantime, you'll enjoy less heat production, longer bulb life, and other LED-exclusive benefits.

Bottom line: unless you're replacing many incandescent bulbs in a large house, you won't see significant savings in your electricity bill.

For a detailed breakdown of the cost-effectiveness of LED bulbs, check out this useful post.

The 'dimmable LED' conundrum

Because of their circuitry, LEDs are not always compatible with traditional dimming switches. In some cases, the switch must be replaced. Other times, you'll pay a little more for a compatible LED.

Most dimmers, which were likely designed to work with incandescents, work by cutting off the amount of electricity sent to the bulb. The less electricity drawn, the dimmer the light. But with your newly acquired knowledge of LED lingo, you know that there is no direct correlation between LED brightness and energy drawn.

If you'd like your LED to be dimmable, you need to do one of two things: find LED bulbs compatible with traditional dimmers, or replace your current dimming switch with a leading-edge (LED-compatible) dimmer.

When shopping for LEDs, it helps to know what kind of dimming switch you have, but if you don't know (or would rather not go through the trouble), simply search for LED bulbs compatible with standard incandescent dimmers.

Plan for placement

Knowing where it's OK to place an LED will ensure that the bulb won't fizzle ahead of its time.

You probably know that LED bulbs run dramatically cooler than their incandescent cousins, but that doesn't mean they don't produce heat. LED bulbs do get hot, but the heat is pulled away by a heat sink in the base of the bulb. From there, the heat dissipates into the air and the LED bulb stays cool, helping to keep its promise of a very long life.

And therein lies the problem: the bulb needs a way to dissipate the heat. If an LED bulb is placed in an enclosed housing, the heat won't have anywhere to go, sending it right back to the bulb, and sentencing it to a slow and painful death.

Consider where you'd like to place your LED bulbs. If you have fully or semi-enclosed fixtures you need to light up, look for LEDs that are approved for recessed or enclosed spaces.

LED lamp

n LED lamp is a light-emitting diode (LED) product that is assembled into a lamp (or light bulb) for use in lighting fixtures. LED lamps have a lifespan and electrical efficiency that is several times better than incandescent lamps, and significantly better than mostfluorescent lamps, with some chips able to emit more than 100 lumens per watt. The LED lamp market is projected to grow more than 12-fold over the next decade, from $2 billion today to $25 billion in 2023, which is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25%.^[1]

Like incandescent lamps and unlike most fluorescent lamps (e.g. tubes and CFL), LED lights come to full brightness without need for a warm-up time; the life of fluorescent lighting is also reduced by frequent switching on and off.^{[citation needed]} Initial cost of LED is usually higher. Degradation of LED dye and packaging materials reduces light output to some extent over time.

With research into organic LEDs (OLED) and polymer LEDs (PLED), cost per lumen and output per device have been improving rapidly according to what has been called Haitz's law, analogous to Moore's law for semiconductor devices.^{[citation needed]}

Some LED lamps are made to be a directly compatible drop-in replacement for incandescent or fluorescent lamps. An LED lamp packaging may show the lumen output, power consumption in watts, color temperature in kelvins or description (e.g. "warm white") and sometimes the equivalent wattage of an incandescent lamp of similar luminous output.

LEDs do not emit light in all directions, and their directional characteristics affect the design of lamps. The light output of single LEDs is less than that of incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps; in most applications multiple LEDs are used to form a lamp, although high-power versions (see below) are becoming available.

LED chips need controlled direct current (DC) electrical power; an appropriate power supply is needed. LEDs are adversely affected by high temperature, so LED lamps typically include heat dissipation elements such as heat sinks and cooling fins.

gu10 review

GU10 LED Bulb Review

So what type of LED GU10 and MR16 bulbs are available?

Unlike old type halogen GU10 bulbs there's a huge amount of choice when choosing an LED GU10 bulb or MR16 replacement. We decided to write this GU10 LED bulb review to outline the differences between our LED spotlights to help our customers make an informed decision when buying a replacement LED bulb. There are four main factors to consider when choosing a suitable LED replacement bulb:

• Light colour
• Total light output (luminous flux)
• Spread of light (beam angle)
• Bulb dimensions

LED Light Colour

Most white light LED GU10 bulbs emit a light colour ranging from "warm white" to "cool white". Warm white is slightly yellow similar to light emitted by a halogen or filament bulb. Cool white has a slight blue tint and is rarely used for domestic lighting purposes. In between these two we have pure white. Pure white is just that - a clean white light with no yellow or blue tint. The kelvin scale is used as a measure of light colour, warm white ranges from about 2800k to 3800k, pure white or daylight from about 4800k to 6000k, and cool white starts from around 6000k upwards. Between warm white and pure white (3800k and 4800k) there is a fourth shade of white called medium white, commercial white or natural white, although it's a relatively new shade of white it's already proving to be our most popular.

Total light output (luminous flux)

A common question is which LED GU10 bulb is equivalent to a 50 watt halogen GU10 bulb in terms of light output. A 50 watt halogen bulb produces approx 12 lumens per watt giving a total light output of around 600 lumens. Some of this light is lost through the back of the bulb leaving approximately 550 lumens of usable light. Our LEDs produce up to 100 lumens per watt, generally the higher the power/wattage the higher the light output. We state the lumens output on all our GU10 and MR16 led product pages. From this you can work out how much light the replacement LED GU10 will produce compared with an old halogen.

Although LEDs don't produce much heat they can overheat in operation if they're not cooled correctly. Operating above 60°C generally damages the LED shortening its life, reducing light output and efficiency. The higher the wattage/power of the GU10 LED bulb the more heat it produces requiring more cooling fins etc on the bulb body to keep the LEDs cool. Therefore beware of bulbs that don't have a well ventilated body. This heat loss requirement limits the wattage/power of the GU10 LED bulb and therefore light output of GU10 and MR16 LED replacement bulbs. The bulb body of a GU10 or MR16 becomes too large and may no longer be a suitable replacement for a halogen bulb when the LED power reaches over 5 watts.

There is more to consider than just total light output (luminous flux) when considering how a bulb will light a room. Our 5 Watt GU10 LED Bulb producers almost as much light as a 50W GU10 halogen, however thanks to its clever light reflector design it spreads the light more evenly over an improved 90° light beam angle, lighting the room more efficiently. The lit space is actually brighter on average using our 5 Watt GU10 LED Bulb compared to a 50 watt GU10 halogen bulb.

Spread of light (beam angle)

Another benefit with GU10 and MR16 LED bulbs is there's a choice of beam angle. Generally our SMD (surface mounted diode) LED bulbs produce a wide spread of light with a beam angle of around 120°. Our Large Diode bulbs offer a more focused beam of around 60° (old halogen 50 watt GU10 and MR16 bulbs had a beam angle of about 60°). The best, most even 60° light beam is produced by our 6 watt COB GU10 LED Bulb.

The resulting effect of a narrow beam angle is to light a smaller area to a higher light intensity, lighting the work space more than the walls of a room when used as downlights.

Bulb dimensions

It's worth checking the dimensions of the LED bulb to ensure it will fit inside the original bulb housing or light fitting. If fitted in the ceiling check the height of the ceiling void is adequate for the length of the bulb. While the diameter of the bulb face is always 50mm for GU10 and MR16 bulbs the length and width of the bulb body varies. On our website we provide technical drawings of all our LED GU10 and MR16 bulbs. If however you purchase an LED bulb and find it's not suitable, simply return it to us for a refund

GU10 LED Lights

 

lightswitch.co.uk® offers the best value on trusted brands with a market leading 7 year guarantee. With the latest innovations and technology, our bulbs save up to 90% energy, helping the environment and saving the typical home £350 per year off its energy bill.
With the widest range of LED GU10 bulbs and spotlights to suit every room, all of our LED GU10 bulbs are a direct replacement for inefficient halogen bulbs. We offer free delivery on all orders, peace of mind with a 30 day returns policy and the best advice before, during and after your purchase with our LED GeniusTM service.
For advice or assistance in choosing the right LED bulb or fitting, please contact our friendly team of LED specialists today.

With their long lifespan even with continuous use, GU10 LED light bulbs are quickly gaining popularity as an alternative to CFL and halogen bulbs. The perfect replacement for high energy use lights, as they easily fit into existing fixtures. Businesses, hotels, homes, schools, and even government offices are starting to replace their normal bulb systems to GU10 LED bulbs because of the many practical and money saving solutions that they offer.
Designed to overcome the many disadvantages of halogen bulbs, GU10 LED light bulbs are able to fit the same fixtures as the halogen bulbs but many more improvements. They are able to give directional light and have the ability to last much longer while costing less to operate then their predecessors. Some of the most popular places and bulb uses that a GU10 LED is used for include spotlights, recessed lights, track lighting, accent, and decorative lighting.
One of the most important reasons that many people seek an alternative to the traditional halogen bulb is the energy cost. While the halogen bulb gives off bright and needed light, it can be costly to use on a day to day basis. In addition to the operational costs, there is also the problems with the constant replacements. Especially in places of work, a lot of time is spent changing and maintaining lighting systems. With the energy efficiency of a GU10 LED light, there is less time spent changing bulbs because they last so much longer then halogen bulbs. Also, they take less energy to run which means that their bright light operates at a reduced cost of the halogen.
Another benefit of using an LED light is that it does not produce the heat that other types of bulbs can. Because it takes less energy to produce its light, a GU10 LED bulb does not get as hot to touch as a halogen bulb. This means that in areas where previously there could not be any light because of fire risk, an LED light can easily go in there so places like enclosed cupboards or delicate walls can have light. GU10 bulbs are also coated in resin which means that they are shockproof and also moisture resistant so places such as interior bathroom lighting is not a challenge when using LEDs.
GU10 LED bulbs are available in different lighting colour options. They are also available as a dimmable bulb for any fixture that has a dimmer. This makes them a growing bulb of choice for many decorators. In addition, they come in all the different colours and all the latest hues. From a bright day light to a warm golden yellow light, there is a variety of a beautiful range of colours for the GU10 LED bulbs.
Environmentally friendly by design, they are a favourite among indoor gardeners as an ideal 'grow light'. Some GU10 LED bulbs also have the dimmable option so when an indoor gardener sets their light cycle for their plants, it can easily be incorporated to a growing routine.
GU10 bulbs are versatile and provide illumination in a wide variety of applications. Even still, they are completely user-friendly. One of the main reasons that many people consider changing their tradition lighting system to that of a GU10 LED is that the light that is produced is very directional. For security and outdoor purposes, this means that the light can easily brighten areas that are of high risk for theft or accidents. For the home use, a GU10 LED can be use as a spotlight for specific areas in the room or be used as an accent light. Whatever way that the bulb is used, an LED it will be a more economical and energy conscious selection.
For lamp sizing, the diameter of a GU10 LED is the same as a traditional halogen bulb and replacing a halogen with the LED is very simple. Some bulbs can measure up to 65 or even 67 mm in length as they need a driver to make the regulation of temperature flow safe but it also makes the base that it is housed in slightly longer. Still, the majority of fixtures will fit a GU10 LED without any compromise in performance or style.
In addition, GU10 LED bulbs are known for their strength and durability. They have fantastic operating range, directional light, and can withstand moisture. With no UV radiation or IR radiation, they can be used in sensitive light environments such as art galleries or around paintings without risk of fading fabrics or artwork. Fast switching action with no illumination waiting time, they are able to be used in all areas of a home or business. With all of these attractive features, it is no wonder that GU10 LED light bulbs are one of the most significant modern lighting solutions.