hallogen bulb life

[daguuy]

i have an extra small halogen bulb laying around and would like to make a light with it. the voltage of the thing it was from was 6v and that's bright enough to make a fairly acceptable light but when i beef it up to 7.5v, it's spectacularly bright. but it also makes a lot of heat and i want to know what effect that would have on it's life span. how long do hallogen lights usually last and how much difference would it make if i gave it an extra 1.5v?

[usbcd36]

I don't think it would make much of a difference in the life, especially because of the way halogens work. As long as it's on, the extra voltage won't kill the bulb (at least I don't think it will), but be SURE not to bump the bulb when hot. It doesn't matter whether it's on or off, but if you bump a hot halogen bulb, it's very easy for the filament to break (because the filament is much weaker).

[timmeh87]

power increases exponentially with voltage, my calculations put you at 156% power with the extra 1.5v. (7.5^2 / 6^2)

i would say it would probably not last as long, but that still might be a fairly long time.