Re: Dimming halogens bad for lamp life?

[Richard Malcolm-Smith <rich@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil Dye wrote:
> 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)?

My experiance is that it makes no difference.

However halogen bulb life seems to have some relationship to the square of
the
price paid for them.


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