Phillips PAR 20 Halogen floods

[glimmerglow]

Hi.
I just installed a new exhaust hood in the kitchen; recommended lamps are 50 watt PAR20 halogen floods. I have had three Phillips lamps flash out (one made a high pitched sound as it blew) in a matter of a few weeks. Voltage to the sockets is OK, so I wonder if this lamp has a less than stellar track record, or if my local Home Depot got a bad batch-I returned two for replacement, one of which also blew in short order. The exhaust fan was not on when this happened, BTW.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ed

[mr_big]

they are probably overheating in the enclosed space which causes the early burn out

[glimmerglow]

On about April 23, I replaced the lamps with G.E.- manufactured units : no problems so far..........

Ed

[debook]

I have found the as many as 60% of new 240v halogens blow after a couple of weeks, even in open air. I blame the Chinese.

Has anyone studied the impact on efficiency of the chinese made bulbs?

[James]

Hi Frank,

For that kind of lamp, the average Chinese made versions put out roughly 30% lower beam intensity and the lifetime is rarely more than half that of the equivalent European made product.  Colour temperature also drops by 200K or so.  Additionally you should expect between 2 and 5% of a batch of Chinese PAR lamps to fail within the first hundred hours or so of life.  Nevertheless, their sale price is half that of the European versions, and for the majority of customers that is the deciding factor when choosing a replacement lamp.  Chinese made lamps from the big brand names are always somewhat better (they achieve the rated life), but all are less efficient, and still suffer a high percentage of failures in the first 100 hours.

James.