Hi can anyone clarify the GU10 lamp (mains halogens) and dimmers business up for me please.
I have in the past fitted mains halogens and was always told I need a dimmer of twice the load, ie fit 8 x 50W lamps which is 400w and you need a dimmer which capable of about 800w, not that easy to find, the choice goes right down once you go up to that sort of wattage and 8 lamps is not exactly a lot, so why is it such a problem?
Why don't they make loads of dimmers that handle bigger wattages? I often go into someones house and they will easily have 8 or 10 fittings and no one wants to flick loads of switches just because they want one room lighting on. It just don't seem to make sense to me, mains halogen is very popular now but it easily is often a problem because of the wattage.
I have also seen switches which say non-derateable what are these, are these switches that will actually do the wattage marked on them even if you are using GU10's? If so that would make you think they could do twice the wattage marked on them if you were using ordinary tungsten lamps, wouldn't it, all very strange. I know you cant do that but I am just saying logically.
Also when you are buying switches, a lot of suppliers tell you nothing about this business of doubling for GU10's as if they are not aware, so what happens if you put GU10's in and don't double the voltage, will it work, will it blow? And how do you know when buying switches which ones are capable of doing the actual load of the GU10's without doubling?
It seems to me it would be very easy if you had a big room, to put far too many 50w fittings up only to realise there isn't a dimmer that can cope, that isn't some weird industrial thing. I mean put in 12 fittings and what are you going to do other than split it into 2 circuits which you may not want, and yet that isn't really an excessive amount for some rooms. I know as a trained electrician you would know how many fittings you can have on a dimmer.
Any help and answers to my questions appreciated.
I have in the past fitted mains halogens and was always told I need a dimmer of twice the load, ie fit 8 x 50W lamps which is 400w and you need a dimmer which capable of about 800w, not that easy to find, the choice goes right down once you go up to that sort of wattage and 8 lamps is not exactly a lot, so why is it such a problem?
Why don't they make loads of dimmers that handle bigger wattages? I often go into someones house and they will easily have 8 or 10 fittings and no one wants to flick loads of switches just because they want one room lighting on. It just don't seem to make sense to me, mains halogen is very popular now but it easily is often a problem because of the wattage.
I have also seen switches which say non-derateable what are these, are these switches that will actually do the wattage marked on them even if you are using GU10's? If so that would make you think they could do twice the wattage marked on them if you were using ordinary tungsten lamps, wouldn't it, all very strange. I know you cant do that but I am just saying logically.
Also when you are buying switches, a lot of suppliers tell you nothing about this business of doubling for GU10's as if they are not aware, so what happens if you put GU10's in and don't double the voltage, will it work, will it blow? And how do you know when buying switches which ones are capable of doing the actual load of the GU10's without doubling?
It seems to me it would be very easy if you had a big room, to put far too many 50w fittings up only to realise there isn't a dimmer that can cope, that isn't some weird industrial thing. I mean put in 12 fittings and what are you going to do other than split it into 2 circuits which you may not want, and yet that isn't really an excessive amount for some rooms. I know as a trained electrician you would know how many fittings you can have on a dimmer.
Any help and answers to my questions appreciated.
