Good Day,
Jonathan, Great to see your byline.
As a follow up to your question and several posts: There are halogen
lamps and there are halogen lamps.
Screw based PAR38 lamps (your most common flood/spot size) are more and
more configured as halogen lamps for the mentioned reasons principally
energy efficiency, and color quality. I have never heard of a safety
concern specific to them. These lamps are ". . . generally of the 'lamp
within a lamp' design. The outer 'lamp' or jacket is made from a heavy
walled borosilicate glass. The inner 'lamp' is the tungsten halogen
capsule that is made from either glass or quartz and contains a
filament, lead wires and a halogen gas mixture. (Sylvania)" I use them,
as well as PAR20 lamps, extensively in our galleries.
MR16 lamps are typically configured with the quartz bulb exposed in a
small reflective housing. Due to the slight risk of rupture they should
never be used in a gallery setting without a secure glass cover. As
noted they also generate considerable heat and fire could result from
contact of an unshielded bulb with flammable material. I also use them
in our galleries but only in fully enclosed fixtures.
There are other halogen lamps found in decorative fixtures (floor lamps,
desk lamps and so forth) which can generate considerable heat, are often
exposed and have caused notable fires. These lamps may be twin pin,
double end, MR16 style or other. These may be the concern of your
institution. The thought of them in a dormitory setting would give me
great concern.
NB. All halogen lamps emit UV light in excess of what we consider safe.
My fixtures incorporate a UV filter in addition to an appropriate spread
lens.
Good luck. Regards,
Richard
Richard H. Timpson
Manager of Facilities and Exhibition Production
The Textile Museum
2320 S Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008-4088
202.667.0441, x 40
fax: 202.483.0994
www.textilemuseum.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Jonathan Bucci
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Halogen lights in museums
Hello List
I work at a university museum. The university has decided that for fire
safety reasons halogen light bulbs are no longer allowed to be used in
university buildings. We, at the museum, are trying to get them to make
an
exception for the museum. All of our track lighting uses halogen lamps,
as
has every other place I have worked. Can anyone provide me with an
explanation as to why halogen lamps are "the industry standard"?
any help is very much appreciated.
thanks
Jonathan Bucci
Collection Curator
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Willamette University
Salem, OR 97301
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