I've read some of the threads on halogen lamps, and have some questions.
Most of the threads maintain that it is best to leave the halogen bulbs fully on.
My 120V floor lamp seems to be of the type described in this article: ttp://x10ideas.com/articles/displayx10article.asp?articleid=8 i.e. the lamp is in three screw together pieces, and the switch is on the stem. The switch has three positions, off, low on, full on.
The fact that the lamp is designed to dim (albeit to a discrete level), seems to imply that this is not a HORRIBLE thing for the bulb. I have had several of these lights for years, and don't seem to replace the bulbs very often (once a year? once every two years?) -- seems the ceramic stems go bad due to heat load before the bulbs go bad. And I use the "low" setting on them regularly.
So the question is, what type of switch do you really need for these bulbs -- a standard incandescent 120V lamp plug in module? Is there REALLY any problem with dimmimg them? And do I really have to remove the switch as described in the article I linked above? If so, why? I would have thought it would be just as good to leave the switch on "bright". How does the dimmer switch in this type of halogen work?
