What is a GU 24 Base

Does your new lighting fixture use a light bulb with something other than your traditional screw in base?  Chances are you need a twist and lock GU 24 base.

What is the GU24 base on energy saving lightbulbs, and why do we have it?

Originally developed in 2004 to standardize a high-efficiency lamp bases, the GU-24 lamp base has become increasingly more popular for high-efficiency fixtures. The introduction of new products incorporating the GU-24 lamp base has been rapidly increasing over the past year as manufacturers and consumers are realizing the benefits to this new design option.

Since Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) agreed to never provide a listing to an incandescent or low-efficiency product using the GU-24 base, the GU-24 design represents a way to achieve permanent energy savings from a lighting product.  The GU-24 design not only provides the necessary permanent efficiency for a lighting fixture, but when used with a single-piece lamp design it helps by allowing ease of replacement. In September of 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new specifications for lamps using the GU-24 base to be qualified as ENERGY STAR. Manufacturers are already starting to qualify their GU-24 lamps under this specification. Additionally, more products are becoming available that utilize this GU-24 design.

Since GU-24 was designed to be a high-efficiency line voltage base, the use of the GU-24 design is not limited to fluorescent applications. The potential for other high-efficient technologies such as LED and cold-cathode to utilize the GU-24 configuration is certainly on the horizon. LED manufacturers have already introduced solid-state lighting products that utilize the GU-24 configuration. The simplicity of the design, ease of changing lamps, and the ease in which a fixture can be made to utilize GU-24 will certainly expand the adoption of this technology for energy-efficient lighting. Expect to see more products and hear more about this new lamp base in years to come.

GU-24 base lamps are available in many of the common styles you are used to seeing and are now available in dimmable versions.  And more good news for consumers, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) qualifies every lamp using the GU24 bases as ENERGY STAR approved.