We want to apply a dimmer switch to some halogen lights. Can we do this?

I went and visited with Karen Lollar, owner of K’s Lighting in order to answer your question. Halogen lights are considered incandescent lights, which have a higher luminous effect over regular bulbs and have a higher light color. Yes, you can use a standard conventional dimmer for 120 volt halogen lights and there are special halogen dimmers on the market for 12 volt halogen bulbs. Karen did say that it is important to remember to let the halogen bulbs burn at full power every so often because when attached to a dimmer, a halogen bulb will burn cooler and will reduce its life span.

There are different makes and models of halogen bulbs on the market and some bulbs have heavy duty filaments so it is possible that if you attaché a halogen bulb to a dimmer, you might hear buzzing. Experiment with different bulbs and this should eliminate the buzzing.