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What is this GU10 light bulb nonsense?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Can't find regular E26 can lights anymore. HD and Lowes only sell this GU10 garbage. As in, utter and complete garbage. Who approved this crap? Who decided this has to be our new standard? Must have been some bribes involved.... Pathetic light output (500lum max), only two choices of bulbs: halogen ($3-4/piece) or LED ($12+ at stores, less online). I had to install extra two ones because 4 of them couldn't lit up a 8x8 kitchen! Even 6 don't quite do it!

They don't seem to have any benefits other than size. But on top of that not all bulbs are the same, and the Philips halogen wouldn't fit with provided metal skirt (probably heat shield) our can lights we bought from HD.

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Comments (6)

rwiegand
8 years ago
Ah, about 90% of all the incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs available at the big box stores in our part of the US are still Edison screw bases, as are most of what's online. GU10 is a moderately exotic specialty lamp-- I wouldn't expect to find one at all at the HD, and I would try hard to avoid fixtures that require them, just because they are exotic. What country are you in?

Amazon and others will be happy to sell you GU10 to Edison adapters.
homepro01
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Do you live in California? If I remember correctly, GU10 is part of the energy efficiency standard for new lighting in California. Funny enough, most MR16 light bulbs have always been either pin configuration or GU10 bases. They are common in Europe also. As LED becomes more prevalent, more fixtures are using gU10 bases too.

Good luck!
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The answer to your question changes with the changing design of lamps [manufacturers call light bulbs "lamps"] therefore it is best to ask the electrical supply house staff instead of guessing. Avoid all CFL's; look for warm (2700K to 3000K, lower is warmer) LEDs that do not cast too harsh a shadow (most do and it can be disorienting). Many enclosed fixtures cannot use LEDs but some LED manufacturers say their lamps can be enclosed so that's another question for the supply house staff. And not all lamps can be dimmed. I have found that every time I go to buy a lamp they are different so you can waste a lot of time looking for what you need at Home Depot and not be sure you have found the right one. And then there are accent light fixtures that take line voltage GU10 or low voltage MR16 lamps. Some people prefer the softer wider spread light from a PAR 20 lamp especially with a frosted face which are difficult to find. Without knowing the fixture and where it is located it is impossible to tell you what lamp to use. HERE is a good resource.
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nuieve
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I'm from Washington. But even if I go to HD online I can't find 3" with anything other than GU10. I briefly skimmed through cheaper options for 4" (which I'm trying to avoid) and they're all GU10 as well.

Are you guys saying you're able to buy normal cans wherever you live? Maybe I should move, would probably be cheaper than putting up extra 1000 cans at $15/bulb just to lit up the house the way 10 CFLs can do.
Oaktown
8 years ago
Title 24 lighting compliance in California generally is GU24.

Aren't GU10 bases typically on floodlights?
mike_kaiser_gw
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
GU10 base bulbs are typically small reflectors.

Maybe you mean GU24, which has the same pins but spaced further apart. If I'm not mistaken they originated in California where code requires energy efficient bulbs to be used. The base prevents "regular" (Edison/medium base) bulbs from being used in the fixture. They're only seen around here (not California) on spiral CFL bulbs but the selection is pretty limited and the price high. You can buy an adapter than allows "regular" bulbs to be used, although in California using one may be a capital offense. ;-)
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
GU10 base lamps were developed to allow a small low voltage halogen reflector lamp called an MR16 to be used in a line voltage fixture which lowered the light output but reduced the cost since there was no built-in transformer. They are therefore sometimes used in recessed and track fixtures in place of halogen low voltage MR16 and line voltage PAR20 lamps. There are now GU10 base line voltage lamps that are LED and there are even low voltage MR16 lamps with an integral transformer built into a GU10 base.

GU10 base lamps are becoming more common in the big box stores because they are cheap. If you want better fixtures and more lamping choices it has always been necessary to buy from an electrical supply house.

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