Today's Specials

Reading Lamps
Many high intensity reading lamps use halogen bulbs. The light can be pointed directly at the reading material without disturbing others.
Decorator Lighting
Some chandeliers use halogen bulbs for a clean and crystal-like appearance. Halogen bulbs also come in colors for special decorator lighting effects.
Spotlights
Halogen bulbs are used in spotlights for stage performances including plays and concerts. The intense light can easily be directed.Security Lighting
Halogen bulbs produce bright lights to illuminate large areas for security purposes as bright light can discourage thieves and burglars.
Photography
Halogen Bulbs are used for photography and video production. The intense light helps reproduce colors more effectively.

Halogen bulbs are incandescent lamps with construction and operation roughly similar to the classical light bulbs. They are generally much smaller than their 'cousins', have increased lifetimes and are able to produce high light outputs with elevated color temperatures, as opposed to all other types of incandescent lamps. Halogen bulbs are basically made of a tungsten filament encased inside a transparent envelope. The preferred material for the envelope is generally quartz, since glass is unable to sustain the temperature at which the filament operates (up to 2,500 degrees Celsius), while the inert atmosphere is made of a mix of argon and nitrogen, and a small amount of a halogen element, such as iodine or bromine.

Typical incandescent light bulbs have relatively short lifetimes, lasting for only 750 to 1,000 hours of normal use. This is mostly because the high temperature of the filament allows tungsten vapor to escape in the inert atmosphere of the device. Over time, this process will eventually lead to a thinning of the filament, until it will no longer be able to support the electric current being passed through it and it will stop working.

Additionally, incandescent light bulbs are extremely inefficient, converting less than 2.5 percent of the electric energy into light, while the rest is lost through heat. Another common problem with classical light bulbs is that they have low color temperatures.

Halogen bulbs, through their special build, are able to bring several improvements in these three issues. Halogen bukbs are known to combine with tungsten if the temperature of the medium is sufficiently high. Through this property the generated tungsten vapor is recycled back to the filament rather than simply being deposited on the inner walls of the envelope.

Secondly, by running the filament at a much higher temperature, halogen bulbs are able to release more light, reaching efficiency rates as high as 3.5 percent. At the same time the color temperature of the emitted light is increased, getting closer to white, as opposed to the yellowish-white light generated by classical incandescent light bulbs.

MR16 halogen bulbs will be familiar to some readers as a reflector lamp originally used in slide projectors. Its small size, durable construction, and wide range of intensities and beam spreads have since made MR16 halogen bulbs a useful tool in lighting design as well. MR16 halogen bulbs now are commonly used for highlighting display objects (e.g., in museums, galleries, and retail spaces) and for accenting architectural and landscape features.