In message , David Hearn
writes
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
David Hearn writes:
We have a 300W halogen up-lighter with built in dimmer. It also has
a 50W bendy spotlight with dimmer.

I'm aware that 300W is a lot of electricity, and in fact, it's too
bright when on full - we tend to have it on 50% or less.
My parents have a 500W one. They often run it in the evenings with
a light output equivalent to about a 40W bulb. I stuck a true power
meter on it, and at this level it was consuming 300W.

Does dimming a light reduce the electricity usage? Part of me says
yes, but another part of me is less sure.
Yes, but not by much in comparison to drop in light output.

I'm thinking of looking for a 150W lamp to go in there which would
be more reasonable - especially if dimming has little effect on
electricity consumption.
I think 200W is the smallest you can get that type of bulb,
but that rating isn't common and you might have to search.
The 100W and 150W ones are shorter.

I did a quick search last night and found one place which sold (I
think) 118mm 150w bulbs and shorter 150w bulbs.

Just searched again and found a different site: http://www.lumineux.co.uk/

This lists 150w 8mm x 78mm and 150w 8mm x 118mm (and 300w 8mm x 118mm +
500w 10mm x 118mm).

Yeah I replaced the 500W bulb in the outside floodlight with a similar
length (118mm I guess) 150W one

don't remember where I got it but it wasn't hard to find.
--
Chris French