A Complete Guide To GU10 Downlights For The Bathroom
Installing the right bathroom lighting is essential for creating the perfect atmosphere. One of the most popular lighting fixtures are GU10 downlights. In this guide, we'll explain everything you need to know about GU10 downlights and how they can be used to transform your space.
We'll explain what GU10 ceiling lights are, the top brands, what temperature to choose, and much more. With this complete guide to GU10 downlights for the bathroom, you'll have all the information you need to create a beautiful and inviting room.
What Will You Find In This Guide
What Are The Voltage Specifications For GU10 LEDs?
Understand The Water Resistance Specifications
Pick The Right Colour Temperature
How Many Lights Do You Need In Your Bathroom?
What Are GU10 Lights?
GU10 is a popular cap type of a mains voltage reflector lamp. It’s designed to twist snuggly in place with its 2 stubby pins. The GU stands for "general use", and the 10 in the name is for the 10mm space between the prongs on the bulb.
Consider The Look You Want
Before we get too in-depth about GU10 bathroom downlights, it's important to know the look you want. That way, you can focus on the vast range of lighting available and pick the ones that best suit your needs for bathroom lighting.
We suggest choosing a theme for your bathroom's design, such as general relaxing vibes, clean lines and modern aesthetics. Through this theme, you can then choose the lighting that will help to illuminate the room in the right way. With this advice and the information below, you'll be able to choose the ideal downlights for your home.
Benefits Of GU10 LED
LED bulbs of all varieties are becoming increasingly popular. This is mainly due to how energy efficient they are, as they help reduce household energy bills without compromising on lighting quality. Additionally, GU10 LEDs produce very little heat compared to their halogen counterparts, making them safer to use and easier to change. Finally, these bulbs also last longer than other types, which means you will also save money on buying replacements.
What Are The Voltage Specifications For GU10 LEDs?
All GU10 LEDs are 230V mains voltage AC, which means they all work well with mains voltage-linked lighting without an additional LED driver. There are lower voltage MR16 lamps which have a GU5.3 cap type. The low voltage MR16 operates on 12, which is usually AC but some are DC. Installing lights that use these bulbs would need a separate low voltage transformer to reduce the mains voltage in order for them to work at the correct voltage.
How Long Will GU10 LEDs Last?
It all depends on the bulb you choose and how often you turn on the lamp. However, you can typically expect your GU10 LEDs to last at least 15,000 hours in your house, with some premium brands like Philips offering higher life expectancies of up to 40,000 hours.
Types Of GU10 Lights
There are many different types of GU10 downlights available, and which ones you choose will be down to your personal style and how the lights can be incorporated into the overall design of your bathroom. Some of the most popular types of GU10 lights include RGB LED, smart WI-FI, Bluetooth and dimmable.
Different Size Of GU10s
The most popular size of GU10 lamp has a 50mm diameter. There is also an MR11 GU10 which has a 35mm diameter, an MR11 GU10 is like a miniature version.
Some of the first generations of LED GU10 lamps were physically deeper in size than their halogen counterparts. A 50W halogen was around 54mm deep and some early LEDs were 80mm. More recent LED GU10 lamps are the same physical size, we call them perfect fit lamps as they’re a low energy retrofit solution.
Top GU10 Downlight Brands
With an impressive range of different light fittings, there are plenty of top GU10 downlight brands to choose from, and when choosing the right lighting for your bathroom, you should focus on fire-rated downlights. This is because fire-rated downlights will help stop the spread in the event of a fire compared to non-fire-rated lights.
The top brands to keep an eye out for that have the best fire ratings include the following:
Understand The Water Resistance Specifications
While all types of LED downlights are energy efficient and provide soft, even light, not all are water resistant. One of the most important features to look out for when purchasing bathroom downlights, especially if the lamp will be going in the shower cubicle, is the IP rating of the lights, as this will tell you how water resistant it is and determine which bathroom zones the lights can be installed in.
The zones are numbered 0 to 2, all with a different IP rating requirement, with 0 to 1 including the bath or shower trays, in the shower cubicle, and above the bath, which needs IP65 or IP68, the highest resistance, which is fully water resistant.
Zone 2 includes areas that are likely to be in a splash zone or near the wash areas and need at least IP64, medium resistance, or IP65.
To avoid confusion its better to install IP65 downlights throughout the bathroom as steam could get inside IP20 rated downlights and damage the LED.
Pick The Right Colour Temperature
The temperature of your lights is another important factor to consider when choosing your downlights. Different colour temperatures are used for different areas of your home, including your living rooms and bathroom.
A cool white is perfect for creating a relaxing atmosphere as the brighter light helps you easily see what you're doing, while a warm white light is best for creating a cosy, inviting feel. When choosing the right temperature for your bathroom, the kelvins will determine how warm or cool the light is unless you purchase colour-changing downlights.
For example:
- 6500K is the brightest light and is used to mimic bright, cool daylight, like a blue sky on a clear day.
- 4000K is white light that commonly used in commercial buildings.
- 3000K is a warm light that would help to create a more ambient atmosphere. This is still whiter and clearer than traditional lights such as halogen or incandescent.
- 2700K is a homely warm light, typically suitable for living rooms and bedrooms.
How Many Lights Do You Need In Your Bathroom?
As a guide, we recommend installing one downlight per square metre. If you use brighter LEDs with wider beam angles you can spread the downlights further to 1.5 or even 2 metres. You need to create a grid layout and adapt to your room. We also offer lighting design services to remove any of the guesswork.
Our Recommendations
Our current recommendation for a Bathroom GU10 downlight would be:
- Aurora EFD Pro
- JCC FireGuard
- Integral EvoFire - this range of downlights are also available in larger hole versions which are useful for replacing existing downlights as you don’t need an additional hole converter. Or the miniature MR11 GU10 version.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right type of bathroom downlights for your bathroom can make a huge difference to the way it looks and feels. What's more, GU10 downlights are reliable, energy-efficient and easy to install. If the LED ever fails and needs to be replaced you can easily replace it yourself. Or if you want a different brightness, beam angle or colour temperature you can swap it over for something else.
Using this guide, you can choose the right lights, temperature, and level of water resistance needed to create the perfect bathroom for your home.
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