Can I use a 12v GU10 LED bulb in a standard 240v fitting?!

I live in an unusual little house which is off-grid and relies on a simple 12v system for lighting. We currently have flourescent caravan wall lights but I'm looking to upgrade to more modern fittings and bulbs. I'd like to have spotlights (wall-mounted) for the kitchen and bathroom, so I've been looking at getting 12v halogen spots (minus transformer) and fitting them with LED bulbs. However, it turns out that it's now difficult and expensive to get hold of the 12v MR16 light fittings and that the cheaper more readily available fittings are the 240v GU10 type.

Not wanting to cough up NZ$100 per set of spotlights, I've been doing a little more research. It seems you can get 12v LED bulbs with the GU10 base... So my question is, if I got hold of some of these bulbs, could I just wire a standard (240v) spotlight into my house and kit it out with a 12v GU10 bulb? Please excuse my ignorance if this is a stupid question...!

You got alot flying around in that description. Most (if not all) MR16 12V bulbs rely on their fixture to convert the voltage as you have correctly mentioned. As long as the fixture converts the voltage to the desired 12V that the bulb requires, the "shape" of the base doesn't matter. If you were wanting to connect a 12V bulb straight to 240V it won't work unless you series 20 of them which may not be desirable (or work).

Perhaps ask a friend who is an electrician or someone will probably be along in a bit.

Are you running 12V AC or 12V DC?

The chips in the LEDs are DC only devices. But MR16 LED lights expect AC and do conversion from 12V AC to whatever voltage they require in DC with some internal electronics, like a bridge rectifier. So in fact there are 2 classes of low voltage LED lights you can get. Some expect 12V AC and some expect DC (typically 5V to 50V DC depending on the light).

Don't know how your standard MR16 (which expects 12V AC) would go on 12V DC ?

Yeah - sorry if my initial paragraph is a little muddled..! I guess I'm making up/working out the terminology as I go along

Our system is 12V DC. Point taken about the MR16 12V AC, David - thanks. But if I were to buy a light fitting from a normal high street shop that is sold for 240V supply, and then put a GU10 12V DC bulb into it, it ought to work on our 12V DC system, right?

If you run LEDs designed for DC current on AC, you are likely to get some serious flicker (at 60Hz). If you really wanted to make a circuit yourself, you would need to rectify it (4 diodes), and then use a resistor and capacitor to even out the waveform if you do not want it to have 120Hz flicker (this would be comparable to good quality LED Christmas lights, not terrible, but still perhaps not the best for area lighting).

I myself had been thinking about the possibility of running low voltage MR16 halogens in series on regular outlet voltage. For example, ten 12v bulbs in a string running on 120v. Low voltage bulbs have a thicker filament so last longer, and it would also have better efficiency than a regular MR16 track because there would be no need for a transformer to step down voltage. Only downside would be if one burned out, they would all suddenly turn off.

Meg said:

Our system is 12V DC. ?

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Anders Hoveland said:

If you run LEDs designed for DC current on AC, you are likely to get some serious flicker (at 60Hz).

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Looks like the OP's system is DC.

Norm

He's only on about using the fitting from the 240v fitting, he will connect it to his 12v supply so no 240v involved. I had to read it a few times before it clicked lol. Anyway, dont see why not... Do they not sell fittings intended for the 12v GU10?

PapaLumen said:

Do they not sell fittings intended for the 12v GU10?

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I always thought GU10 was either 120V or 240V.

Certain MR16 lamps can operate directly on the mains voltage. These lamps typically use a GU10 turn-and-lock base, so they cannot be accidentally interchanged with low-voltage lamps. They are often referred to as GU10, rather than MR16 lamps. Low-voltage MR16 lamps almost always have ANSI standard GU5.3 two-pin bases. MR16 lamps with an integrated transformer are also available. These lamps have screw bases to fit standard medium-base Edison sockets.

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Norm

OK... Well, I might just go ahead and try it and see what happens. Thanks for your input everyone.

Meg said:

OK... Well, I might just go ahead and try it and see what happens. Thanks for your input everyone.

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GU10 fixtures are "passive" ..... just wires so there would be no issue putting a 12V GU10 bulb in one of them. Can't be much of a GU10 12V selection though is there?


Semiman