Halogen Lighting?

  • Thread starter Thread starter cincy_kid
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cincy_kid

cincy_kid

Active member
Hey all,

I saw these:

Valo Instant Track Lights

at my local home store and was thinking about getting them because they were easy to install, safe and have a dimmer! :)

My question is, are halogen lights ok in the studio? Are they noisy? Any pros or cons to using halogen lights compared to the usual recommendation of incandescent lighting?

Thanks in advance ~
 
I have something like one of those kits on the bookshelves in my studio. I don't have mine on a dimmer, but they are totally silent.
 
We used those in the conference room we just renevated where I work. My only problems with them are, 1) They are very direct light and if you're in the beam they're really bright and they hurt your eyes, and 2) They get hot as hell. If you have enough of those in a small room it'll bring the temperature up to balmy in no time.
 
I don't have any problem with the halogen track lights in my studio... BUT, do not put a dimmer in the circuit with your recording gear. It will be a source of noise and hum.

Oh, and like SonicClang said, you won't have to heat that room in the winter.
 
dirtythermos said:
Oh, and like SonicClang said, you won't have to heat that room in the winter.
Click to expand...

I can concur with this, for sure. I have the heater duct blocked in my studio with mdf to keep the noise from traveling into the bedrooms when I am in there late at night. I made the thing removable so I could take it off to get heat into the room, but I have found I never need to take it off - I just turn on my halogen track lights and the room is toasty in no time. Of course, it's a double walled room, heavily insulated with no windows, so that helps too! Only problem is it gets a little too warm in the summer - we have no ac in the house, so I have to open the doors and let the room cool down periodically...

Otherwise, I have no problems with noise or whatever from the lights, however I don't have them on a dimmer. I have a dual circuit track with natural white lights on one circuit, and red and blue halogens on the other. When I need some added mood for playing my guitar or whatever, I just switch to the colored circuit.
 
JeffLancaster said:
I have a dual circuit track with natural white lights on one circuit, and red and blue halogens on the other. When I need some added mood for playing my guitar or whatever, I just switch to the colored circuit.
Click to expand...

Ooooh color! That's a cool idea! :) I did the exact same thing with dual circuits. Instead of using a dimmer, which induces noise into the lines, I put the track lights on the sides of the room on one circuit, and the ones at the front and back on another. And also I can take as many lights out of each track that I want. There are really infinite ways to light my rooms. I hadn't thought about putting colored bulbs in though. Very cool idea.
 
Well, look at them tho. I would not be putting a dimmer on the circuit...the dimmer is part of the lights. It just plugs in to any outlet and the dimmer is just part of the line.

As far as direct light I would most likely have it on dim always which is a big switch from my flourescent now beaming BRIGHT LIGHT :)

As far as the heat, well in my VERY small room, when I am not in there, not only is everything turned off but even the power strip is unplugged from the wall. I go in there and its REAL cold (well pretty darn cold). Within 10-15 minutes of turning on the computer, soundcard and mixer it gets toasty, so I can only imagine with the lighst too. (But then again I am sure the flourescent contributes to that toastiness as well)

So bottom line for me on this would be...since the dimmer is built into these lights and its not like installling your normal dimmer on a line, do you think you would still get the pesky noise?

Thanks
 
It doesn't matter that it's installed on the light itself or on the wall. If the dimmer is inline with the power anywhere in the circuit it's PART of the circuit, therefore it will induce whatever noise it wants to. There are options for filters to clean your lines, like a power conditioner for all your studio gear for one.

And as for a flourescent light creating heat, the fixture you have looks like a T12 fixture, which means the bulb only burns at 12 watts, which is actually really low. That's the cool thing about flourescents, they put out a lot of light for their power consumsion. That's why the compact flourescents are so popular. I just took another look at your closet studio and you've got two 12 watt bults, so you're burning at 24 watts right now. Not BAD for heat. :)
 
Dang ~

I thought people used dimmers in their studio for mood lighting :cool:

I cant deal with the bright lights going on. So I will have to either get a dimmer, a desk lamp, or maybe even try some color bulbs as Jeff mentioned above.
 
Nope

Hate to rain on peoples' parade but as a electrician/lighting design-installer, I wouldn't touch them. #1 Halogens are hot. Really hot. #2 two sided sticky tape doesn't last. #3 Halogen meets carpet unattended and you have a fire. Funny what UL will pass these days. And there are some dimmers out there for recording use. But you'll have to sell a mic or two to get them.
 
I like to build a fire, my floor is dirt, of course. So when I'm recording, the soft, subtle sounds of clackling fire are slightly audible in the background. But during the day, I pick up birds chirping, but get natural sunlight; i.e. no roof either. ;)
 
cincy, there are dimmers that don't induce noise, but they're very expensive.

Just do what I've done. You could put two 4 foot track lights on either side of your closet. When you want mood lighting, take a couple of the lights out of the track. I've got 4 four foot track lights in my control room with a max of three bulbs. When I want it dimmer in here I just stand up and either turn all the bulbs towards the walls, or I take a bunch out. It's easy and not inconvenient at all. I've been using this room for almost two years this way and I've never run into a situation where I couldn't light the way I wanted. I was even able to get it bright enough to shoot some green screen video.
 
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