1. What is MR16?

“MR” means Multifaceted Reflector, and “16″ is the diameter in eighths of one inch across the front face, which is 2 inches (or about 51mm).  Similar designation is MR11, which has a diameter of 1.375 inches (or about 34.9 mm).

2. How do MR16 bulbs look like?

Most common MR16 bulbs are 12V low voltage MR16 halogen with GX5.3/GU5.3 base, and 120V/230V high voltage MR16 halogen with GU10 base. Besides, there are still MR16 lamps with other bases, like E27, or E14. Below left picture is one 12V MR16 halogen lamp with GX5.3/GU5.3 base, and right is one high voltage MR16 halogen lamp with GU10 base.

Yes, there are already MR16 led bulbs/lamps which can replace MR16 halogen.

4. Can we directly replace the MR16 halogen with a MR16 Led?

It depends. If it’s a 230V MR16 halogen with GU10 base, you can do a simple plug and play replacement, and directly replace it with a 230V GU10 Led. While, if it’s a 12V MR16 halogen with GX5.3/GU5.3 base, which usually comes with a transformer inside, most probably you need change it with a 12V DC output transformer (12V DC Led power supply) before doing the replacement.

5. Why we need change the 12V halogen transformer before replacing it with 12V LED?

There are two types of halogen transformers, electronic type (the majority) and electromagnetic type (the minority). MR16 Leds are usually compatible with electromagnetic halogen transformer only, and are NOT compatiable with most of the electronic halogen transformer. Installing led lamp on a wrong transformer could result in compatibility issues, such as,

• Overheated and damaged transformer
• Lamp flickering
• Lamp not starting up

While, we do foresee that advanced technology would lead to a sound solution of these compatibility issues in the future.

6. How to choose a MR16 Led lamp/bulb for your house?

If it’s a new installation, it’s easy, firstly decide which input voltage it’s going to be, then what power you expect, and select one with right size as what your installation requires.

If it’s a retrofitting project, firstly you have to check which input voltage it is for current MR16 lamp. If it’s high voltage with standard base, i.e. GU10, E27…etc, nearly all MR16 leds with same bases fit. If it’s low voltage, it’s suggested to change the existing transformer to a 12V DC transformer (Led power supply) before replacing the existing MR16 halogen with MR16 Led.