When my household recently embarked on a renovation project for our den, we selected to add GU10 four inch recessed bulbs at various parts along the roof to provide for highlight, mood and task lighting.

One of the reasons that motivated our decision was the looks of the fixtures themselves as well as the high level of the light productivity in such a little package. These minor fixtures come in a brushed light weight aluminum frame and bring a nice, fashionable appearance to the room. Ultimately though, the main compelling factor in our decision was cost. The GU10 units are affordable when compared to bigger more traditional designed recessed lighting fixtures. That, together with the nice look of the fixtures, and the ease of installation, sealed the deal to go with GU10 fixtures for this venture. They do not have to be connected with any ceiling studs since they will be self anchored between the top and bottom corners of the ceiling sheetrock.

So we acquired six of these very little light fixtures and set about installing them. Once all lights were in place and the electrician had finished his work, we were all set. The facilities supplied more than adequate light production to the room and as an added bonus, they sat and watched inside movable bezels which allowed the homeowner the luxury of darting the light source in a large spectrum of motion for task lighting.

About 2 months after we had set up the lights, one of them went dark. Right after attempting to take a look at the bulb for evidence of failure (burnt or broken lighting element) I came to realize it was very difficult to see beneath the lens cover of the light, but never the less, I cannot imagine a bulb flop after such a short time. So I left it unsolved and forgot about it for a couple days, then the next time I went to turn on the den lights, I discovered another light had went darkened. After doing the same cursory checkup I had done on the fixture, I decided to call the electrician out for a visit to check the circuit.

Naturally, the circuit checked out fine and we were left and realized bulbs after only two short months of service. At this rate, I, came to realization any money I’d saved on the decision to go with the GU10 halogen fixtures was sure to be thrown away in bulb replacement costs. At this instance, the electrician told me of the presence of super long life, ultra efficient LED bulbs that were made as a replacement for the rapidly weakening halogen GU10′s I had just observed succumbing to a premature (and expensive) death.

Surprisingly I was able to find multiple options of LED based GU10 replacement bulbs to match my needs. It has been 8 months since I started using the LED replacement bulbs and these little wonders, and needless to say, I’m quite contented. Not only do they emit clean, natural light (if I am not aware I would think it was an incandescent based light bulbs), but I can tell an improvement in the volume of heat released by the bulb.

I can actually touch right up to bulb and only feel a slightly lukewarm lens cover. By comparison, the halogen based GU10 bulbs would literally cause a scalding burn in just a couple of seconds of contact.

I can truly say, I’m definitely glad I asked the help of the electrician that day and was even more glad that I’ve found these fantastic little LED light bulbs.