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From: metzger@cup.portal.com (David G Metzger)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Halogen Lamps, too (was Re: florescent bulbs replacing inca
Message-ID: <36224@cup.portal.com>
Date: 25 Nov 90 23:15:37 GMT
References: <1990Nov16.091211@mathcs.emory.edu>
  <1990Nov17.211808.21546@ameristar> <27836@mimsy.umd.edu> <57@deeptht.UUCP>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 60

In article <57@deeptht.UUCP>, spcecdt@deeptht.UUCP (John DuBois) writes:

>In article <27836@mimsy.umd.edu> terry@brillig.cs.umd.edu (Terry Gaasterland) 
w
>rites:
>+
>+Has anyone seen these new fangled indoor halogen lamps?  They've been
     [.....lines deleted.....]
>+If you have any clues about how to purchase such a beast, I'd like to 
>+know.  Thanks.
>+
>+  -- Terry
>
>    Damark (1 800 729 9000) sells them for $40 + $10s/h.  I've seen them 
>locally too, for the same $50.  They're kinda neat, but the ones I've seen
>in action don't seem to be a terribly efficient lighting scheme.  At full
>power (500W), reflected off of a white ceiling, they seem to give about
>the same amount of light as a normal 150W incandescent bulb.  If your
>ceiling has a particularly high albedo they might perform better.  Like any
>incandescent, at lower power they are less efficient.  On the other hand,
>if you like indirect lighting they're great.

     This is contrary to our experience, and our ceiling is just your
average, white, textured ceiling.  We have had a similar lamp in our
living room for nearly a year, and found the 500w bulb to be blindingly
bright.  We replaced the bulb with a 300w, and it was perfect.  Although
the lamp has a dimmer, the 500w bulb would produce light which was much
too yellow when dimmed to the output of an ordinary 150w tungsten bulb.
With the 300w, we can dim the lamp until the output about equals a
traditional 100w bulb, and the light still appears "whiter" than the
traditional bulb.  (This would indicate that you are still getting good
relative efficiency with the dimmed, 300w halogen bulb, and poor relative
efficiency with the dimmed, 500w halogen bulb.)

>    Damark's price for replacement bulbs is $19 (with s/h) for two.  I don't
>know where you'd get replacements if they stopped selling them.
>
>-- 
>John DuBois
>spcecdt@deeptht.santa-cruz.ca.us

     Our lamp uses the very same quartz-halogen bulbs that are used in
the outdoor lighting fixtures that are now found in every hardware store,
K-Mart, etc.  We have had no problem finding replacements, and have even
found them for as little as three dollars. The bulbs are rated at approx.
2,000 hours and we have yet to replace the first 300w bulb; we don't
think bulb replacement or cost is much of an issue.

     We have been very pleased with the lamp.  The quality of the light
is wonderful, and with the 300w bulb we can get non-glaring light
bright enough to cheer the room on a cloudy day, or dim it down to
a soft, uniform glow which is perfect for watching a movie. The only
drawback to these lamps is that a 300w/500w bulb at full power naturally
produces 300w/500w of heat, but so do ordinary tungsten bulbs.

     Bottom line: try one; return it if you don't like it. 

                                   David Metzger
                                   metzger@cup.portal.com
                                   sun!portal!cup.portal.com!metzger