sitelights
06-14-2007, 05:49 PM
I responded to a post in this Forum last night that asked if there were any less expensive ways to have the low voltage (MR16) look and light quality without paying a premium for low voltage housings and trims.
Recently some specialty lamp manufacturers have entered the market with MR16 halogen lamps that operate at 120v and look exactly like a 12v MR16 except that they are mounted on a medium base i.e. a standard thread-in bulb. There are probably a number of sources for these lamps: 20w 120v BAB, 35w 120v FMW and 50w 120v EXN. I source mine at bulbs.com search 120v med MR16.
It is important to stay within the housing/trim maximum watt rating and the 120v MR16 allows you to replace the usual A19 incandescent with a lower watt, higher performance, longer-lived lamp. If a housing was rated for 60w max the A19 lamp could be replaced with a 120v 20w BAB MR16 that consumes a third of the energy of the 60w A19 while substantially improving the performance of the recessed fixture.
If the lighting circuit is dimmed the 120v 50w EXN would be a better choice in that the 20w is at the low end of the photometric performance spectrum. All interior lighting systems circuits equiped with incandescent/halogen sources can be controlled with the addition of an inexpensive dimming switch. In my opinion a light with dimmer is like a radio without a volume control. In this scenario the 50w MR could be dimmed to the equivalent of the 20w and the 50w capability would provide some added punch when needed to the accent lighting by using the appropriate setting. The 50w running at 40% provides approximately the same output as the 20w at 100% but with the advantage of providing a choice.
The MR (Mirror Reflector) lamp directs all of the light output downward to focus the light beam into cone; the standard non-reflector A19 lamp has no focus and merely provides a modest amount of general light. This new lamp allows conversion of an existing recessed 120v housing into accent lighting for the cost of the 120v MR16. Since many new work or remodelers wired for 120v are equiped with the medium base socket, changing the lamp provides the superior performance of the much more expensive 12v transformer and MR16 lamp socket low voltage housings at about a third of the cost.
Compared to the 60w A19 the conversion provides savings of a third of the energy thus a third of the operating cost also has the bonus of twice the rated life: 2000 vs 1000 hours...but don't forget to stay under the manufacturer's max rating by assuming at all the conversion lamps might be run at 100% by those who prefer their lighting to shout at them.
Unfortunately the original post and my answer were lost but I hope the person that posted sees this expanded version and finds it helpful.
A reference to this post will be placed in the "Lamps... Forum" where I will next attack the compact fluorescent lamp: a fraud being perpetrated on the American public (indeed, worldwide) by manufacturers and energy conservation exponents that state the upside but not the downside of this bit of lucrative technology.
Recently some specialty lamp manufacturers have entered the market with MR16 halogen lamps that operate at 120v and look exactly like a 12v MR16 except that they are mounted on a medium base i.e. a standard thread-in bulb. There are probably a number of sources for these lamps: 20w 120v BAB, 35w 120v FMW and 50w 120v EXN. I source mine at bulbs.com search 120v med MR16.
It is important to stay within the housing/trim maximum watt rating and the 120v MR16 allows you to replace the usual A19 incandescent with a lower watt, higher performance, longer-lived lamp. If a housing was rated for 60w max the A19 lamp could be replaced with a 120v 20w BAB MR16 that consumes a third of the energy of the 60w A19 while substantially improving the performance of the recessed fixture.
If the lighting circuit is dimmed the 120v 50w EXN would be a better choice in that the 20w is at the low end of the photometric performance spectrum. All interior lighting systems circuits equiped with incandescent/halogen sources can be controlled with the addition of an inexpensive dimming switch. In my opinion a light with dimmer is like a radio without a volume control. In this scenario the 50w MR could be dimmed to the equivalent of the 20w and the 50w capability would provide some added punch when needed to the accent lighting by using the appropriate setting. The 50w running at 40% provides approximately the same output as the 20w at 100% but with the advantage of providing a choice.
The MR (Mirror Reflector) lamp directs all of the light output downward to focus the light beam into cone; the standard non-reflector A19 lamp has no focus and merely provides a modest amount of general light. This new lamp allows conversion of an existing recessed 120v housing into accent lighting for the cost of the 120v MR16. Since many new work or remodelers wired for 120v are equiped with the medium base socket, changing the lamp provides the superior performance of the much more expensive 12v transformer and MR16 lamp socket low voltage housings at about a third of the cost.
Compared to the 60w A19 the conversion provides savings of a third of the energy thus a third of the operating cost also has the bonus of twice the rated life: 2000 vs 1000 hours...but don't forget to stay under the manufacturer's max rating by assuming at all the conversion lamps might be run at 100% by those who prefer their lighting to shout at them.
Unfortunately the original post and my answer were lost but I hope the person that posted sees this expanded version and finds it helpful.
A reference to this post will be placed in the "Lamps... Forum" where I will next attack the compact fluorescent lamp: a fraud being perpetrated on the American public (indeed, worldwide) by manufacturers and energy conservation exponents that state the upside but not the downside of this bit of lucrative technology.