The SO brought home a light fisture for the kitchen which uses 4 x 50 Watt bulbs marked as being G9. There is no transformer on this fixture, and the bulbs have two small wire loops that make contact with the lamp socket. Can these fixtures be used with a dimmer switch?
Big Er
Thornbury, ON
Nothing is impossible if you don’t know what you’re doing
Replies
It sounds like those might be halogen or plain incandenscent.
In either case they will work with a standard dimmer.
If it is low voltage and use and "electronic transformer" then they will often work with a standard dimmer, but there if not there are some (more expensive ones just for that purpose).
Likewise there are special dimmers available for use with low voltage magnetic transformers.
So long as they're incandescent (hot filament) lamps and there's no transformer, the dimmer will work. Be aware, though, that a dimmer may shorten the lifetime of halogen bulbs. (There is some controversy as to how much.)
Be aware, though, that a dimmer may shorten the lifetime of halogen bulbs. (There is some controversy as to how much.)
It's one of the questions that the answer is "depends".
A halogen lamp is designed to burn at its maximum wattage so the vaporized tungsten deposits back onto the filament when the lamp is switched off. A good practice would be to turn the lamp back to maximum output for 15 sec. or so before it is switched off. Then in theory the life of the bulb is preserved.