Halogen lamps and chandeliers: types, properties, characteristics

What are halogen (halogen) lamps and how do they differ from ordinary ones?

Halogen bulbs, like regular bulbs, are incandescent bulbs. They also have a spiral, and it is also made of tungsten. The difference is that a gas containing pairs of halogen elements - iodine and bromine - is pumped into the flask. Their presence makes it possible to increase the heating temperature of tungsten, which increases the glow power. The effective light output of halogen lamps is about 15-25 Lm/W. A very good indicator. Much better than conventional incandescent lamps.

This is what halogen lamps look like

They have halogen incandescent lamps and a second difference from ordinary ones: the small size of the bulb. This is also due to the presence of iodine and bromine. The glass of the bulb does not darken, since tungsten molecules evaporated from the surface of the filament bind with halogen molecules and return to the filament. Therefore, the flask can be made smaller. It can have really very small dimensions - the distance from the filament to the walls of the bulb is sometimes measured in millimeters. It is this feature that allows you to make miniature light bulbs, adding variety to the appearance of chandeliers. There are many types that are used in built-in lamps.

One more point: the presence of iodine and bromine extends the life of the spiral. Halogen lamps can last 2000-4000 hours (that's almost twice as long as regular incandescent lamps). If you turn them on through a soft starter, the service life can be doubled.

Halogen lamps also have a tungsten filament

In addition to the listed features, halogen lamps have another advantage: they can operate on direct current. There are options for 6 V, 12 V and 24 V. The most common are 12 volts. To operate halogen lamps with constant voltage, a converter is required. When selecting it, it is important to take the power with a reserve - the total power of the connected lighting devices should not exceed the power of the power supply. It’s better to have a reserve of 10-20%.

How are halogen lamps different from incandescent lamps?

First of all, they differ from each other in their price. The presence of this distinctive feature is quite logical, because halogen lamps are much more reliable , have high efficiency and are compact in size, which cannot be said about incandescent lamps. In addition, if we talk about the quality of light, it should be noted that in this regard, halogen lamps are much more attractive than ordinary incandescent lamps. They are perfect for artists, designers, and all those people whose quality of work is directly related to the quality of light.

Unfortunately, at the moment, incandescent lamps are not so attractive, and all because they have to be changed often, due to the fact that they burn out. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you do not try to save money, but simply give your preference to halogen lamps, which can certainly satisfy your needs!

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Advantages and disadvantages

Halogen lamps appeared as a replacement for conventional incandescent lamps. If you compare them, there are a lot of advantages:

Small sizes.
Less electricity consumption.
Longer service life.
Good color rendition.
Stable luminous flux (brightness does not change over time).
Possibility to use with reduced and constant voltage.
Compatible with dimmers (light brightness adjustable).

Overall, not the best option, but not bad

There are also disadvantages, but they are in the category of exploitation. Although these are undoubtedly important points. So, here are the disadvantages of halogen lamps:

Demanding on the quality of food. Even small deviations from the norm are poorly tolerated, both in the direction of increasing and decreasing voltage.
When installing, you must wear gloves to prevent grease stains from remaining on the flask. Otherwise, the bulb will overheat under the grease stains and the lamp will quickly fail.
Short service life. Even with good voltage quality, halogen light bulbs often burn out. If there are at least 12 pieces in the house, you will have to change the burnt one at least once a month.
They react negatively to frequent switching on/off.
Difficulty in removing the base from the socket if the lamp breaks.

These halogen chandeliers were popular, and even now there are similar options

At one time, halogen lamps were very popular because of their unusual appearance, because of their miniature size, and because of their bright glow with such small dimensions. This opened up great opportunities for lighting modeling. Against this background, all the shortcomings were tolerated. With the advent of LEDs on the market, the situation has changed. They are even smaller in size, less demanding on the quality of power supply, and have a significantly longer service life (even if we talk about real and not ideal operating conditions). In addition, they are cheaper and consume significantly less electricity. In general, it is not surprising that halogen lamps are gradually being replaced by LED lamps.

Incandescent lamps

Incandescent lamps are the very first type of electric lamps; they are also called “Ilyich lamps”, since in Russia they became widespread under V.I. Lenin.

Advantages of incandescent lamps

Low cost. Today this is the cheapest type of electric lamps.
Incandescent lamps have a continuous (continuous) spectrum of radiation, in the visible part of which orange-red rays predominate. Accordingly, when illuminated by such lamps, “warm” color tones (red, orange, brown) are enhanced and “cold” colors (blue, green, violet) are weakened. However, this factor is not only an advantage, but also a disadvantage.

Disadvantages of incandescent lamps

Incandescent lamps cannot provide high quality color rendering, but they can bring an atmosphere of comfort and warmth to your home. They are absolutely not suitable for lighting shop windows and retail spaces in stores where it is important for the buyer to see the exact color of the product.
Incandescent lamps have high energy consumption. There are models of incandescent lamps with different types of coating, which are more economical.
When designing the interior, you should take into account the high heat transfer of these lamps and use them at a safe distance from fusible (PVC stretch ceilings, polyurethane decorative elements) and fire hazardous materials.

Features of operation

One of the important disadvantages of halogen light bulbs is that they are demanding on the quality of power supply. They do not tolerate both low and high voltage. With a deviation from the nominal value by 4%, the service life is reduced by 40%, with a deviation of 6% it is halved. And the quality of our mains voltage is far from ideal, so problems with quickly burning out halogens are far from uncommon. If there is a stabilizer at the entrance to an apartment or house, then there will be no problems. If not, then you need a stabilizer at least on the lighting line with halogen lamps.

There is another way to solve this problem - installing a soft starter. In addition to stabilizing the voltage, it also smoothly increases the current, gradually heating the coil. This extends the life of halogen lamps several times. In advertising they indicate 5-7 times, but in reality it is 2-3 times, which is also a lot.

Do not handle the case with your hands: from unpacking to installation

What else is worth remembering is that you cannot touch the bulb of halogen light bulbs with your hands. Why? Even cleanly washed hands leave a mark. This is sebum. When a light source is used, it burns out very quickly, leaving a dark mark. These dark places get very hot. Local heating leads to rupture of the bulb - the halogen literally explodes. To prevent injury in this case, the flasks are made of special glass and/or double. In any case, it is better to carry out installation using cotton gloves, after wiping the surface of the flask with a microfiber cloth moistened with alcohol.

Spotlights for halogens can be very different

A few more nuances: halogen lamps do not like frequent switching on/off and do not tolerate moisture. All this introduces restrictions on the scope of application. They can only be installed in rooms with normal humidity, where splashes are excluded. And another important point: installation and replacement of halogen lamps should be carried out with the voltage removed. A switch in the room is not the same. It is necessary to turn off the circuit breaker or unscrew the plug.

What makes the difference between types of lamps

If we read the history of the halogen lamp, we will know that it is an improved version of the incandescent lamp. It also consists of a glass bulb, a filament and a base, but a halogen - bromine or iodine - is pumped inside. This gas prevents the deposition of evaporated tungsten from the filament onto the walls of the lamp, eliminating the soot effect.

In addition, the bulb of the halogen source is made of quartz glass, so it is more durable than a regular light bulb. However, its operating principle is the same, so the halogen lamp is not without the main disadvantages of the traditional one - it can be broken if handled carelessly, it gets very hot during operation, and is sensitive to power surges and low temperatures.

Operating voltage of halogen incandescent lamps

As already mentioned, halogen lamps can work with different voltages:

Variable frequency 50 Hz and voltage 110 V or 220-230 V.
Constant: 6 V;
12 V;
24 V.

220V halogen lamps can be small in size

To supply constant reduced voltage, a mains to reduced voltage converter is required. Halogen light bulbs are connected in parallel to it. The total power of the connected lamps cannot be greater than the power of the power supply. In a good way, the total power of the lamps should be at least 10% lower. When breaking into groups, it is better to make several small groups. Yes, you will have to install several power supplies, but they will cost less than one powerful one. Another point: low-power power supplies are less noisy.

The adapter for powering halogen lamps with direct current is small in size

When dividing into groups and selecting power adapters, you must also take into account such a parameter as the minimum load (minimum power). The power of the connected lamps cannot be less than this figure.

Socles and varieties of forms

Halogen incandescent lamps are available with different bases. Screw-type, like conventional incandescent lamps - types E 27 and E 14. Pin-type - two legs made of thin wire at some distance from each other. These bases are designated by the Latin letter G, followed by a number indicating the distance between the terminals. The most common are G4, G 5.3; G 53, GZ4, GY4, GX5,3 are often found. There are also types of socles that are more difficult to describe. Their designation and appearance can be seen in the figure below. These are all low-precision modifications.

Halogen lamps such as GU, G9 and G 10 are connected directly to 220 V. Moreover, their dimensions remain just as small.

Socles and their image

You can also divide halogen lamps into capsule lamps and those with protective glass. Capsule ones are very small. They are also called finger ones - they are about the size of the phalanx of the little finger. Inside each halogen lamp with protective glass there is such a miniature one - a capsule one. The filament body in them can be located parallel or perpendicular to the inputs.

The protective glass may have a reflector to create a directed beam of light. This further increases the efficiency of using lamps, since rays directed back are reflected from the surface of the reflector. In addition, the reflector reflects heat, which increases the heating temperature of the coil. That is, there is even more light.

The shape of the flask can also be different

There are also linear halogen lamps. They are used to illuminate work surfaces and to illuminate industrial premises. They may have two identical bases or only one. They are practically not used in everyday life, since despite their small size they have high power - from 1 kW to 20 kW. But they are in demand for outdoor lighting: they are placed in spotlights.

What is a fluorescent lamp?

Fluorescent lamps usually include artificial lighting sources that operate on the gas-discharge principle. In these devices, an electrical discharge in mercury vapor produces ultraviolet rays, which are converted into light radiation through phosphors, such as calcium halophosphate.

Fluorescent Lamp

In fluorescent lamps, therefore, there is no filament body. However, the luminous efficiency of the lighting fixtures in question is usually much higher than that of incandescent lamps. Luminescent devices have a fairly long service life and are characterized by fairly high energy efficiency.

Fluorescent lamps are most often available in 2 varieties:

high pressure devices;
low pressure devices.

Lamps of the first type are most often used for outdoor lighting - in courtyards and on roads. Low pressure lighting devices are most often used to illuminate rooms inside buildings.

The main advantages of fluorescent lamps:

high energy efficiency;
the ability to select lighting in different shades;
long service life - up to several tens of thousands of hours.

Fluorescent lamps, however, are not very environmentally friendly, since they contain mercury vapor. The corresponding lighting devices require special disposal after use.

It may be noted that some common types of household fluorescent lamps are traditionally called energy-saving. Indeed, thanks to their high energy efficiency, lighting fixtures of the appropriate type allow apartment owners to save money when paying for electricity.

To prevent halogen light bulbs from burning out frequently

As already mentioned, the service life of halogen lamps is about 2000 hours. If they burn for at least 8 hours a day, with ideal nutrition, they can work for about a year. To make them burn out less often, you can do the following:

Install a halogen lamp protection unit. It protects against power surges, and, when turned on, smoothly - within 1-2 seconds - increases the current. It also smoothly reduces it. It is selected according to the power of the connected load, but there should be a margin of 10-20%.
If there is a dimmer, you can do without a protection unit. But you need to turn the lamps off and on smoothly.
Read the inscriptions carefully))
Clean once every six months. Wearing gloves, using a microfiber cloth soaked in alcohol, wipe the contacts (base) from carbon deposits and oxidation products. If possible, the cartridge should also be cleaned of carbon deposits and dust. The flask also needs to be wiped to remove dust. And also with clean microfiber and alcohol.

Carrying out preventative maintenance for a longer service life

In general, these lighting fixtures require stable voltage and preventative maintenance to function properly. And one more thing: when choosing, read the labels carefully. If you choose for a “regular” network, make sure that 220 V (or 230 V) is written. It’s just that some models have such a luminous flux: 220 Lm (lumens). When we see the desired number, we often don’t even read what the next designation is. And then, having placed a lamp designed for 12 V into a lamp with a 220 V power supply, we wonder why it burned out. Believe me, this happens not so rarely. Be careful!