halogen fixture over islands? Yes or No?

15 years ago

Me again.

I will not be having recessed lighting.

I found a fixture I like for my long, but fairly narrow island. It's a cross between pendant and track,and takes halogen bulbs. It can be dimmed.

Does anyone have a halogen fixture (rather than recessed lights) over their island? If so how do you like it. If you are not a fan, then please add why not?

Here is the photo to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

Thanks

KN

Featured Answer

rhome410

15 years ago

We had halogen lights over our bfast bar in our previous home, and even with ceilings that were less than 8 ft, I never felt they made the area any warmer. I often read comments here that say halogen lighting will make homes too warm, but we had halogen bulbs in our 6" recessed cans in that home (lots of them), and in this one, too. (I have one shining on me at this moment and today kind of wish it would make me warmer! I feel no heat at all from it.) We have Halogena bulbs in our other lighting, including the schoolhouse pendants in our kitchen. We've experienced no problem with overheating. The only time I actually felt uncomfortable warmth from any halogen light was when I was grouting the upper portion of the slate backsplash behind my range...It was a time-consuming job and it put me right up next to the halogens in my hood vent.

Anyway, I love the clean, bright light, and definitely prefer them for task lighting. I feel I get more illumination for the wattage. It's a bonus that they are easily dimmable. I rarely dim lighting, but it's nice to have the option to set the level from very bright to very low.

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Comments (12)

laxsupermom
15 years ago
Halogen can get quite warm. Will there be seating at this island? I have halogen above my mirror in my bath and on the rare occasions I get gussied up to go out, I'm flushed by the time I'm done w/ makeup.
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katienic
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you both for responding. No, there won't be seating at the island where the light is.

I toodled on in to the lighting store today and held a sample of granite under a display of halogen lights. I really liked how it made the granite look and I do belive I will enjoy it as task light. It's good to hear rhome that you don't find them overly hot as that was the one concern my DH did have. I can control the direction of the lamps so that might help too.

rhome: what wattage do you usually use. The gal at the lamp store recommended 50 (this would give the equivalent of 300w from the unit).

Thanks again
KN
rhome410
15 years ago
We have different wattages in different fixtures. I'm not sure what we had over our bfast bar in the other house, but I'm pretty sure they were 50. Our recessed cans have 75 watt floods. Our kitchen fixtures have 60-100 watt halogena bulbs.
patti823
15 years ago
I have them in our can lights and in our pendants. I love them!! I do notice that if I'm standing under the can, I can feel the heat, but they are 75 watt floods. I have 3 pendants over my island and they are 50 watts and they are not hot at all, and we do have seating at our island. I have them all on dimmers, so I can turn them down if I don't want as much light/heat.
raehelen
15 years ago
We have halogens throughout the kitchen. Like you, what confirmed it for me was taking the granite sample to the lighting store. We sit at both the table and the peninsula which have halogens, and never a problem with heat. I sort and pack seeds on the counter and love having the nice bright light!
katienic
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks patti & raehelen for your input on this too. It is good to hear that you also find they don't generate too much heat, and that you are both very happy with the effect.

I've lived with a very poorly lit kitchen for so long that I'm excited and looking forward to 'let there be light'!
qs777
15 years ago
Just wanted to say that I like your light fixture and wanted to know where you found it. I'm looking for a light for over my island as well and, although we have fluorescent cans there now (because we have to in CA), I will definitely be changing it out after we get the permit signed off (I know that is terrible, but our electric bill w/o fluorescents is only about $35 and I don't see that going much lower by forcing us to only have fluorescents - sorry to rant) There is just nothing comparable to the type of light that halogen gives - it just makes everything bright and sparkly.
katienic
Original Author
15 years ago
qs777: Glad you like it. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is stunning in real life. The shades are termed as butterscotch, but don't let that put you off if you are looking for white. It is a translucent near white that isn't the least yellowish or tan, just very warm & inviting.

I'm purchasing here at a lighting store in Canada but there are a number of US on-line sites that have it.
Product is DVl: DVP-9336.

Here is a link that might be useful: DVP9336 - Island Light Fixture
katienic
Original Author
15 years ago
Sorry qs777, the link was working yesterday, but today they say the fixture no longer exists.
Here is another link.

Here is a link that might be useful: new link to fixture
dancingsams
15 years ago
If you're in CA, you might also consider LED. There are superbright LEDs now that are extremely efficient and similar in lighting feel and color to the halogens.

We are building most of our new home - due to be done in another 12 months (sigh) with LEDs in the fixtures.
Just a thought ...
qs777
15 years ago
Thanks for the link - I just got around to looking at it today. I'm glad you mentioned the shades as I did not want anything yellow but my monitor showed them just as you described. And the price isn't bad, either. Thanks!

Dancing - I've been looking at LEDs but the ones I have been seeing all have a bluish tint and not the white crispness of halogens. Granted, the ones I have seen are on the cheaper end so I will have to check out more expensive ones to see if they look better. Good luck with your new home. Hope you're taking lots of pictures for all of us ;)