GU10 Spot Lights - Good or Bad?

[fluorescent]

GU10/50mm spot lights... Probably the most popular lighting choice at the moment, they're everywhere! I reckon every renovation project at the moment will involve installing some. On the various electricians forums on Facebook etc, it's a daily question "What LED spot lights are you using", "how many GU10's do I need for a xxx square metre floor space", "I installed some cheap Chinese GU10's four months ago and they've already failed, what's the best switch start fluorescent batten to replace them with(*)" and the like. What's more, they seem to be used for all situations, including lighting up massive floor areas like the picture below! They're called spot lights, spot... lights... *spot* lights, i.e. they light up a small spot!!

All this being said, I actually DO like them, but only in very limited applications. I'm renovating my own house at the minute, and I will be installing some in one room - the reception area, which isn't actually a room lol.

So, what's your opinion of them, and why?

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(*) = Not an actual question that I've seen

[Cobster]

I think they are one of those misused light sources. Every bodgit type who thinks they're an electrician loves a cheap ten pack of these from the wholesalers, then wonders why they catch fire, fall apart or trip MCBs regularly.
I was always taught that these are for small accent lighting, such as displays. Not wide area illumination.

A good example is at work, where a costcutting manager got the (dodgiest) onsite electrician to replace a failed 125W MBF lowbay with eight GU10s in two kitchen style lights, badly screwed up.
You can't seriously say that this is an cost saving in the long run? In the end it was nicknamed his 'runway' ready for the shit to land.

[FrontSideBus]

I do really like the sparkle and colours you get from dichroic MR halogens.

[Kev]

100% agree with mark the best down lighters were 12V MR16 Philips masterline ES with a GOOD transformer we had like 8 years out of the lamps alone!
There is a solicitors I look after in truro that was kitted out in 1994 with these big old magnetic transformers 23 years on the transformers are still there and still good! Even the halers H2 Pro LED down lighter (my favourite of the bunch) would fail far short of that! Problem with the 12V was the lamp holders tbh if they invented them with a GU10 style when they first came out they would of been less problematic!

[Ash]

The 12V G5.3 Halogens (either as MR16 or as stand alone capsule in a small spotlight, of a similar size and depth to a MR16) aren't all that much different from GU10 Halogens in how they light up the space. They both make a directional spot, which is ok for accent and even for whole room illumination for some application (dim aura in a stout), but not for others..

Most of the "toolbox consists of one tester screwdriver and a roll of electrical tape" electricians are absolutely terrified of any kind of control gear. Atleast that is what i see over here. They will prefer to stick in CFLs instead of HIDs, LED tubes instead of FL tubes, and if not citing energy savings, they will cite that it is much simpler without control gear as the main advantage. So this explains, why they prefer anything 230V GU10 over anything 12V G5.3. Why they didnt do this allready in 1994 is 1. The single ended HV Halogens weren't yet a thing back then, 2. They still weren't as spoiled by CFLs/LEDs as they are now

[Kev]

The 12V G5.3 is way more efficient James always said a 20W 12V = same light output as 50W GU10

[FrontSideBus]

I really don't mind it when halogen downlights are used as the primary source... I think I put some photos of the main dining room of the ocean liner QM2 in the gallery and that is pretty much all LV halogen lit as is most of the other public spaces...

[Slyspark]

I'd agree there Kev - thew 50w GU10 only produced as much light as the 12v 20w MR16. The extra 30w used by the GU10 is just lost as heat. I call them head burners for a reason. One of the few applications where I consider the LED GU10 lamp to be an upgrade on the halogen GU10 original....

[Ash]

I dont think anyone thinking to light up a room with GU10's have anything like efficacy in mind. His main consideration is to avoid that extra 230V in 12V out box...

The dining room in an ocean liner is example for a place where the aura set by MR16 spotlights is very appropriate, but for most places it isn't as much