Dimming halogens bad for lamp life?

[Phil Dye <phil@xxxxxxx>]

I've been looking around at various halogen downlighter fittings,
trying to choose stylish fittings, etc, but of most relevance here,
making sense of mains vs. LV.

There seems to be conflicting opinion over which is "better";
clearly
mains fittings are simpler/cheaper to install (no transformers), but
some suggest that LV bulbs last longer.

Which leads onto... I've read some opinions that dimming any halogen
bulb is bad, because halogen lamps rely on running "hot" for the
tungsten-deposition process to work (see http://tinyurl.com/drdzd).
When dimmed, the lamp runs cooler, preventing this happening, and
leading to premature failure.

Given that we're looking to fit-out half the house with these things
(on a CBUS install), should I be concerned? Are there real-world
problems with lamp life, or is this all theoretical? And mains or LV
(assuming dimmable transformers of course)?

--
phil