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I seem to spend every other day standing on a stool replacing halogen bulbs, and the fitting is very fiddly, often I just yank the whole fitting out of the ceiling: The inventor has a lot to answer for!
Are these low voltage halogen lamps or mains voltage ones? Low voltage have straight pins on the back which push into the connector in the back of the fitting, and use a transformer hidden up there to step the voltage down. Mains voltage lamps have stubby pins which you push in and turn clockwise about 45 degrees to click in place.
Dichroic low voltage lamps (the standard ones you can get anywhere) do have quite a reasonable lifespan. But if you have an enclosed light fitting, not much space in your ceiling, or your lamps are very close to the transformer the heat can make the life become very short indeed. Next time you go to buy some lamps, ask for Aluminium reflector type and not Dichroics. You probably won't find them everywhere but your local Electrical Wholesaler will definately have them. With these, the heat is reflected forward and the lamp itself doesn't get very hot. The lamp life on these are massively better in enclosed situations, and still a decent amount better in normal installations. Definately try them - BLV Reflekto is one brand/model which are absolutely the best and worth the extra money.
If you have mains voltage halogen lamps, there is no easy solution in lamp type. GU10 lamps already have an Aluminium reflector (stay away from the rare GZ10 type which do not). Sylvania make some lamps called Superia which claim a 4000hr life and those are the best claimed life I have seen. They are quite a warm colour (2500K I believe) and not the brightest around, but still decent if they really last that long.
In either case, a good quality dimmer switch will really improve lamp life a lot. Make sure you get one that can easily take the load that you have and stay away from cheap unbraded switches. The good ones have features such as soft start and soft off which improve lamp life further. Be careful when buying a dimmer for mains halogen lights as some switches can't take their full rating with them. Some switches may claim 400w capacity, but with mains halogen you are supposed to de-rate this to 200w. Then again, some dimmer switches will work fine with mains halogen. Know what lights you have at home and scan through the instructions for the dimmer switch before you part with your money. If you go to your local electrical wholesaler, they will help you out compared to if you went to a place like B&Q.
Edited by sein (19/07/2006 13:40)
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