Dimming Halogen Lamps

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guitarchris

Senior Member
Is there any problem with dimming 120V Halogen Lamps? They are the small GU? 20W lamps, 10 total...so I was thinking of sticking them on a 600W Lutron Adriani Dimmer that we use all the time. We have gotten a influx of installs with halogen fixtures and I don't want to go around throwing dimmers in where it would cause a problem. I didn't see anything in the paperwork that came w/ the slowes fixtures restricting dimmers.
 

winnie

Senior Member
Location
Springfield, MA, USA
Occupation
Electric motor research
Halogen lamps are simply a type of incandescent lamp, and will dim if used on a normal incandescent dimmer.

Note that some halogen lamps are low voltage (12V) and the fixture includes a transformer; you will need to take this into account if you are installing a dimmer.

According to literature, excessive dimming can cause problems with bulb life or bulb darkening. This is because quartz envelope around the filament must get hot enough for the halogen gas to react with any deposited tungsten.

-Jon
 

Benton

Senior Member
Location
Louisiana
I deal with these lights all the time they seem more decorative than anything. They just don't put out much light. But we do have a few that are on a dimmer, no problem.
 

dbuckley

Senior Member
They dim fine, much easier than the 12V transformer equipped lamps which need the right sort of transformer and the right sort of dimmer.

On the other hand, the quality of light from the 120V lamps is pants compared to the 12V lamps.

But you're lucky - the 120V GU16s are bad, but the optical qualities of the 240V GU16s used in the rest of the world are truly ugly.
 

guitarchris

Senior Member
They dim fine, much easier than the 12V transformer equipped lamps which need the right sort of transformer and the right sort of dimmer.

On the other hand, the quality of light from the 120V lamps is pants compared to the 12V lamps.

But you're lucky - the 120V GU16s are bad, but the optical qualities of the 240V GU16s used in the rest of the world are truly ugly.

thanks man, I just didn't want to stick a dimmer on there and end up back there replacing the dimmer. You're saying I'll actually be back replacing it with a better fixture/lamp type:grin:, I'm not a fan of the light from these things either. It's totally not appropriate for what most people buy them for
 
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