The Domus KEY PAR30 is a 10W exterior floodlight globe E27, IP65, tri-colour switchable,dimmable, with a 36 beam and a frosted lens.

An IP65 globe you can screw into an outdoor fitting

• Most globes are IP20 indoor and dry. This one is IP65,which its datasheet calls an exterior floodlight globe.
• Which changes what you can do with an existing fitting. An outdoor E27 holder a bulkhead, a spike floodlight, a coach lantern can take this without the globe becomingthe weak point.
• The FITTING still has to be rated for the position. An IP65 globe in an IP20fitting does not make the assembly IP65 water gets in at the holder, not the lamp.
• Where it genuinely helps is a rated fitting with a poor lamp in it, or a fittingwhose original lamp is no longer made.

Its record says “Indoor”. Its datasheet says exterior floodlight, IP65

• The two statements sit a line apart and contradict each other outright.
• That field holds Indoor on 340 of 342 Domus records and carries noinformation but this is the sharpest instance we have met, because the sheet isnot merely silent on outdoor use, it leads with it.
• Read the IP rating. IP65 means dust-tight and protected against jets ofwater.

Three colour temperatures on a switch, and it dims

• Switchable on the globe itself, so one part covers three specifications useful when you are replacing lamps across a property and do not know what each fitting wants until you areup the ladder.
• Fully dimmable with a suitable dimmer, which is uncommon on a tri-colourglobe most switchable lamps give up dimming to get the colour switching.
• Suitable dimmer is doing work in that sentence. A trailing-edgeLED dimmer is what you want; an old leading-edge dimmer sized for halogen will often flicker orbuzz at a 10W load. Tell us what dimmer is on the circuit.
• 36 beam a medium flood. At 2m it lights a pool about 1.3macross.

How it compares with the other KEY globes

• 10W, 1,000lm 100lm/W, the highest of the KEYglobes we have figures for (the range runs 87100).
• 30,000hrs double the 15,000 of the glass GU10 and MR16globes, though half the 50,000 of the tri-colour PC ones.
• So it sits well: efficient, reasonably long-lived, and the only one here rated forweather.
• CRI 80, SMD LEDs, 240V.

The warranty is on the sheet and in no field

The datasheet promises a 2 Year Replacement Warranty. No product fieldcarries it. Replacement is the useful word on a lamp thatis the practical remedy, and it is a shorter term than the 3 years recorded on the glass GU10 in this samerange. Ask us to confirm it with your order.

Where it works

• Outdoor E27 fittings bulkheads, spike floods, coach lanterns wherethe fitting itself is rated.
• Covered entries and undercover areas.
• Anywhere you want a dimmable, colour-switchable replacement lamp.
• Not to make an unrated fitting weatherproof water enters at the holder.
• Not on an old leading-edge halogen dimmer without checking with us.

Specifying it

10W E27 exterior floodlight globe. PAR30 shape, frosted lens. Switchable 3000K /4000K / 5000K. 9001,000lm. CRI 80. 36 beam. IP65. Dimmable with a suitabledimmer. 30,000hrs. 240V. Its record says “Indoor” its own datasheet calls it an exterior floodlight globe and rates itIP65. Read the IP rating. An IP65 globe does not make an unrated fitting weatherproof. The sheetpromises a 2 Year Replacement Warranty and no field carries it ask us to confirm with yourorder.

Supplied and supported by Lights For You.

Questions

Can I really use it outdoors?

The globe is rated IP65 dust-tight and protected against jets of water and its own datasheet calls it an exterior floodlight globe. Its product record says “Indoor”, which is the opposite, and that field holds “Indoor” on 340 of 342 Domus records and carries no information. Read the IP rating. One caveat that matters: an IP65 globe does not make an unrated fitting weatherproof, because water gets in at the holder rather than the lamp. The fitting has to be rated for the position too.

When is an IP65 globe actually useful then?

In a rated outdoor fitting with a poor lamp in it, or one whose original lamp is no longer made a bulkhead, a spike floodlight, a coach lantern. In those the holder and body are already sealed, and the lamp is what you are upgrading. It also means the globe itself will survive condensation and damp inside an outdoor fitting, which is where cheap indoor lamps fail early even in a rated enclosure.

Which dimmer will work with it?

A trailing-edge LED dimmer. It is fully dimmable with a suitable dimmer, which is genuinely uncommon on a tri-colour globe most switchable lamps give up dimming to get the colour switching. But “suitable” is doing work in that sentence: an old leading-edge dimmer sized for halogen will often flicker or buzz at a 10W load, because 10W is far below what it was built to regulate. Tell us what dimmer is on the circuit and we will say whether it will behave.

Which colour temperature should I choose?

It is switchable on the globe itself, so you can decide on the ladder. For an outdoor entrance or a garden, 3000K warm light flatters brick, timber and planting. 4000K reads neutral and happens to give the highest output here at 1,000 lumens. 5000K suits security and inspection positions. Being able to change it later without buying a different lamp is the real benefit if you are relamping a whole property.

How does it compare with the other KEY globes?

Well, on the figures we have. At 10W and 1,000 lumens it returns about 100 lumens per watt, the highest of the KEY globes with published figures, which run 87 to 100. Its 30,000-hour life is double the 15,000 of the glass GU10 and MR16 globes, though half the 50,000 of the tri-colour polycarbonate ones. And it is the only one in this group rated for weather.

What warranty does it carry?

The datasheet promises a 2 Year Replacement Warranty, and no product field carries it so the term exists but the listing does not show it. “Replacement” is the useful word: on a lamp that is the practical remedy rather than a repair. Worth noting it is shorter than the 3 years recorded on the glass GU10 in this same range. Ask us to confirm it with your order.

What area will the 36 beam cover?

At two metres it lights a pool roughly 1.3 metres across a medium flood rather than a spot or a wide wash. That suits a doorway, a path junction or a feature: enough spread to be useful, enough control not to spill everywhere. If you want to wash a broad wall, this is too narrow; if you want to pick out a single object, it is too wide.