Mains Halogen

[chrish16]

Hi
I have just taken down a normal light fitting and placed a mains halogen fitting in its place and also joined another mains halogen fitting further down the wall.

This is ok isn't it? Everything is working fine.

I have a dimmer at the top of the stairs and a normal switch at the bottom, and when i turned the dimmer down i got a buzzing noise as if electric is going through something i understand that dimmers can do this and i can hear it when i put my ear to the dimmer but when i turned the dimmer back up to full i could hear a buzzing noise still and i found it was 1 of the mains halogen fittings.
Do mains halogen fittings/bulbs buzz at all? They are brand new so do the GU10 bulbs buzz when new possibly? I have to admit I can't hear the loud buzzing anymore.
The dimmer switch was there when i moved in so it could be old and i don't know the rating of it ( i haven't checked) and i do have a new silver/touch/remote dimmer to put on.
1 thing i have noticed is that there is a ceiling light also and that has a energy saving lamp in it and before i changed the wall lights when i turned the dimmer down it would flicker which i understand energy saving lights can't be dimmed, but now i have these halogens on the wall when i dim the ceiling light doesn't flicker anymore. Could this lamp have something to do with the whole problem? Should i just but a normal bulb in this fitting?

[stevelup]

Hi

You definitely need to replace that low energy lamp with an incandescent one.

These are a good compromise (B&Q sell them)

Steve

[chrish16]

Hi
I new i would need to change it thanks.

I'm actually putting a halogen fitting up on the ceiling so don't need a bulb thanks.

Can you get GU10 bulbs that are less than 50W or should i just use 50W a nd dim it a little?

Also i have a fitting for the ceiling with 6 GU10 bulbs at 50W and the two on the wall so thats 400W so do i need a 600W dimmer?

Also i have just checked and behind the dimmer is like 4 sets of cables, does this mean that one is from the mains lighting circuit, 1 from the ceiling light, 1 from the wall lights and 1 from the other switch in the 2 way circuit? Shouldn't all these wires be in a junction box?

To add dimmers all i need is a suitable 2 way dimmer and then note and transfer the live, switched live and common wires into the dimmer and then on the slave dimmer add the same 3 wires and then all should be fine?
Will the circuit take that mains bulbs btw - 400W? A lot i know and don't fancy the electric bill but hopefully i can get less than 50W bulbs or i will have them dimmed slightly, and most of the time will be dimmed very low for watching movies.

[stevelup]

Hi

You can get 20 and 35W GU10 lamps as well.

With regard to dimmers, if you use conventional ones, you must have a switch at one side and a dimmer at the other. You cannot have both controls as dimmers.

If you wish to be able to dim from both locations, and you currently have 3 core cables running between the two switch points, then you can use these: iQ Remote / Touch Control. You need a master and slave unit. They have the added benefit of being remote controlled.

All I'd say though is that dimmers and mains voltage halogens are a bit of a recipe for pain. Often when the lamp blows, it can damage the dimmer...

Steve

[chrish16]

Originally Posted by stevelup

Hi

You can get 20 and 35W GU10 lamps as well.

With regard to dimmers, if you use conventional ones, you must have a switch at one side and a dimmer at the other. You cannot have both controls as dimmers.

All I'd say though is that dimmers and mains voltage halogens are a bit of a recipe for pain. Often when the lamp blows, it can damage the dimmer...

Steve

I've seen some Philips 35W bulbs which i may get. I've seen tonight in Morrisons their own make 20W but do you think they'll be good enough quality? I couldn't find any good makes of 20 and 35W bulbs online.

How would i know if the dimmer is damaged?
I only really want to put the dimmer on at the bottom of the stairs to give the soft start feature to help to save the lamps.

I have white back boxes which are wall mounted and i actually have silver coloured dimmer fronts, do you have a solution to change the colour of the back box?

[habrown]

I would reccomend Osram GU10's if you were to use GU10's at all, as they come fitted with a fuse in-built. They are a little more money, but one of the many problems with GU10's are that when they blow, they go short circuit and take out the fuse or MCB, and all your lights go out! then you have the challenge of finding out what bulb has blown before putting a new fuse in, or it will blow again...

[chrish16]

Hi
Thanks

Where is the best place to buy the osram ones then?

I'd be looking at getting 20 or 35 W

[silver12]

You can also buy LED and compact fluorescent lamps in a GU10 format, but they don't like being dimmed.

You can buy push button dimmers that will work on a two way lighting circuit.