Long Life GU10 bulbs

[denis567]

I have been advised to replace my kitchen light bulbs (GU10's) with more expensive long life bulbs which are supposed to last 20 years. What worries me is that the ones I have seen in Homebase are only 1W, whereas the ones I am using now are 25W (I have a fitting that takes 4 of them).
Am I right in thinking that the long life ones are going to be too dim?

[Buenchico]

You probably require a 3W bulb.

3W GU10 low energy bulbs emit as much light energy as a conventional 35W GU10 bulb. At first glance that figure might seem a bit high for your needs but, because the spectral qualities of the light from low energy bulbs are different from those of conventional bulbs, many people seem to find that low energy bulbs don't actually appear as bright as their 'equivalent wattage' suggests.

However Philips 'Econic' range (which they quote as lasting 15 years, based on 1000 hours use per year) don't come cheap:
http://www.johnlewis....uct.aspx?source=14798
(That's a 'bargain', by the way. They're £5 dearer on the official Philips website!)

Philips also produce a far cheaper range of low energy bulbs, where a 7W bulb is nominally rated as equivalent to 25W but they're only expected to last for 8 years (based upon 1000 hours use per year):
http://www.johnlewis....30439663/Product.aspx

Chris

[denis567]

Thanks a lot Chris. What sort of a light would I get from these 1W ones? they are about £7 each and my kitchen is rather small.

[Buenchico]

I'm not sure that I can give a very accurate answer about how bright the 1W bulbs would be. From the Philips website it seems that they're a completely different type of bulb to conventional low energy bulbs, and consequently no 'equivalent wattage' figure is quoted. However the customer reviews on the Homebase website aren't particularly complimentary about them:
http://www.homebase.c...ail=searchtext%3EGU10

Chris

[36TEAK36]

Don't bother with the Homebase ones, they are rubbish, and mine only lasted a matter of weeks.

I ended up buying some Ever Ready ones from Ebay, and they seem much better.

[crapmemory]

In my kitchen the lights use Mini GU10 Halogen 35W. Is there an alternative to these as they are expensive? TIA

[denis567]

Thanks everyone for their input, especially Chris. I have a clearer idea now as to what I shall do.

[AlBags]

If you believe a bulb will last 20 years, there's no hope for you.
All this led/low energy light is like "factory" light.