We just finished a complete kitchen rehab, and used the little peanut
halogen lamps under the new cabinets. I love the way the look, but they
are blowing on a regular basis. YES, I know not to touch them with bare
fingers or anything else with any oil on them, but they keep blowing.
They're hard to replace, too. And, to replace them altogether is not a
good option - there's lots of thick granite in the way now. So, I got to
thinking that maybe an electronic component inline with the (single)
wall switch that turns them on could start "softly" when I turn on the
switch so as to avoid the big start surge. That's when they always blow,
so I know it's hard on them. So far, I've replaced at least everyone of
them. I have 6, and they've only been installed since October. I know I
could put in a dimmer switch that would do it, but I don't have much
room in that switch box, and would rather not do that. Anyway, others in
the family would probably go right to ON instead of "turning it up".

Any ideas? Looking for a component that I could wire in that would
"clamp" the starting voltage for a second or so, then allow the full
voltage to come thru in a "ramp up" manner.

Steve Henderson