B22 (BC) LED GLS Bulb 4.9W 470lm Non-Dimmable - Daylight 6500K - JCB

This is a 4.9W LED GLS bulb with a B22 bayonet cap, the push-and-twist fitting most people still call a bayonet or BC. GLS is the familiar rounded pear shape that standard household bulbs have always taken, so it sits in a pendant, a shade or a table lamp without looking out of place. It gives 470 lumens at 6500K, which the pack labels daylight: a crisp, blue-white light rather than a yellow one. The opal white bulb body spreads the light from the LED chips inside, so you read it as a soft glow rather than a cluster of bright points. It carries energy class F.

6500K is the coolest of the common household colour temperatures, and it suits places where you want to see clearly rather than settle in. Garages, utility rooms, workshops, laundry corners, loft spaces and stair landings all take it well, as do kitchen ceiling fittings and desk lamps used for close work. It reads white against paint and fabric, so colours look true when you are matching or sorting. If you are lighting a sitting room or a bedroom, a warm white bulb will feel more comfortable, and daylight is better kept for the working parts of the house.

This bulb is not dimmable, so pair it with an ordinary on/off switch. On a dimmed circuit an LED like this can flicker, buzz or fail early, so choose a dimmable lamp for those rooms. The IP20 rating means it belongs in dry indoor fittings. Light spreads across a 180 degree beam, which is why it works in a shade or an upward-facing fitting rather than as a spot. The pack prints a 10,000 hour life and states it lasts up to 10 years. Each unit is a single bulb and the minimum order is 12, in multiples of 12. Our wider range of JCB bulbs includes the same 4.9W 470lm GLS in warm white 3000K, an 8.5W 806lm GLS in daylight 6500K, and candle and golf shapes on the same B22 cap.

Will this fit my lampholder?

It takes a B22 bayonet holder. Look at the old bulb: if it has two small pins on the side of a metal cap and pushes in with a quarter turn, this is the right cap. A screw thread means you need an E27 instead.

Which old filament bulb does this replace?

The pack gives it as a 40W replacement, and 470 lumens is about what an old 40W household bulb produced. Swapping one for one you should see a similar amount of light for 4.9W of power.

Can I put it on a dimmer switch?

No. The specification lists it as non-dimmable, so it needs a plain on/off switch. On a dimmer it may flicker, hum or fail well before its rated hours, so pick a dimmable lamp for those circuits.

How different is 6500K from a normal warm bulb?

Noticeably cooler. Warm white at 2700K to 3000K looks yellow and restful; 6500K daylight looks white with a slight blue edge, which makes detail and colour easier to judge but feels less cosy in living rooms.

How long should it last, and what does it cost to run?

The pack prints a 10,000 hour life and up to 10 years of use. The energy label gives 5kWh per 1,000 hours at energy class F, so roughly five units of electricity for every thousand hours lit.

Will it light a whole room from a pendant?

The 180 degree spread throws light outwards and downwards rather than in a narrow cone, so in an open shade or a plain pendant it gives broad general light rather than a directed beam.