GU10 bulbs keep blowing after about a week - please help this is driving me mad!

mervpayne · Jan 7, 2011

Hi, I have a four lamp Halogen GU10 light fitting in my kitchen (not spots) and two in an adjacent sun lounge. They were fine when first installed a few years ago but in the last 12 months when we replace the bulbs they are lasting a week at the most. As you can imagine, with a total of 12 bulbs this is both very annoying, time consuming and expensive!
As of this morning (after replacing the lot last week) we're down to 2 lights in the kitchen and 1 out of 8 in the sun lounge and I'm thinking of investing in a miner's helmet to help me make my morning cuppa.
Any ideas why these things are so unreliable?
I'm tempted to rip the things down and replace with a trusty old flourescemt strip light because I could have bought 3 with the money I've done on bulbs in the last month but it doesn't look the best does it?
Any help would be appreciated.

dean7828 · Jan 7, 2011

you could try gu10 LED lamps they will last loads longer but the light will be more clinical than the halogen lamps. also the cheep lamps don’t seem to last as long, i find the lamps that come with the fittings only last a week or so.

Amp David · Jan 7, 2011

What make of bulbs are they? Also have a look on the box to see what type of reflector the bulb uses.

gpz900jim · Jan 7, 2011

those bulbs dont like vibration, the ones in my bathroom never go wrong as its upstairs, but the ones in the kitchen go all the time, caused by people walking round upstairs. i would never fit these things to my house again, they are crap

IQ Electrical · Jan 7, 2011

gpz900jim said:
those bulbs dont like vibration, the ones in my bathroom never go wrong as its upstairs, but the ones in the kitchen go all the time, caused by people walking round upstairs. i would never fit these things to my house again, they are crap

Yes, vibration and airborne grease!

The manufacturer does make a massive difference though and there are extra long-life lamps available-don't go to a supermarket or shed though, use an electrical wholesaler and go for Philips or Osram.