| Post 1 made on Wednesday April 7, 2004 at 08:36 |
Hi,
You'll be able to tell I'm a newbie!
I've read that most X10 switches shouldn't be used with halogens. I have a set of 3 halogen lights on tracks and I would like to be able dim them with a X10 switch. Is that possible at all? If so what should I buy?
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| Post 2 made on Wednesday April 7, 2004 at 09:53 |
Larry Fine Loyal Member |
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Posts: | August 2001
5,002 |
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Halogens work fine on X-10. Electrically, they're just another tungsten filament. The problem is that life and maximum brightness can be reduced by running dimmed a lot, but this can be overcome by running full brightness often. Larry www.fineelectricco.com
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| Post 3 made on Wednesday April 7, 2004 at 17:56 |
automan1 Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | April 2002
393 |
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but since most halogens are low voltage, They utilize cheap switched mode power supplies which can't be dimmed.
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| Post 4 made on Thursday April 8, 2004 at 01:58 |
AutomatedOutlet Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | November 2003
215 |
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Couple of points. Halogens are OK on dimmers if you use the better dimmer switches - not the cheap X10 switches. If the transformer on the halogen lights are magnetic, not an issue. If they are electric, you will probably need an in-line filter (maybe 20 amp) to filter out the noise that electric transformers induce on the powerline. Martin Martin@AutomatedOutlet.com
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| OP | Post 5 made on Thursday April 8, 2004 at 08:50 |
My halogens come from Ikea and I think they are low voltage. I saw on homeautomationnet that some Switchlinc wall dimmers support low voltage.. Maybe that's they key?
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| Post 6 made on Thursday April 8, 2004 at 15:08 |
automan1 Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | April 2002
393 |
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"If they are electric, you will probably need an in-line filter (maybe 20 amp) to filter out the noise that electric transformers induce on the powerline."
The 'electric transformer' (switched mode power supply) has to be capable of being dimmed.
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| Post 7 made on Thursday April 8, 2004 at 21:26 |
Larry Fine Loyal Member |
Joined:
Posts: | August 2001
5,002 |
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Is the transformer a typically-heavy unit or a relatively lightweight electronic package? Larry www.fineelectricco.com
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| OP | Post 8 made on Friday April 9, 2004 at 10:40 |
it's actually fairly big. It's a black cylinder. Diameter similar to the size of a CD, and a couple of inches thick.
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