How to convert existing, low voltage halogen lighting to led lighting using the same fixtures

These Halogen bulbs are inefficient, and run so hot that they often damage the reflector and bulb socket if they are left on too long. Fortunately there is an easy fix for this. At most stores that sell the exact replacement Halogen bulbs (Lowes, Home Depot and others) you will see a selection of LED bulbs on the same display rack that will fit into the same socket the Halogen bulbs use. It is IMPORTANT that you know the code number stamped on the base of your Halogen bulb AND its voltage because some Halogen bulbs are 12 volts and some are 110 volts. If you can't read the labeling on the bulb, look for the wiring diagram usually glued inside the range hood or look in your owner's manual. Once you know your Halogen bulb's code number, look at the packages that the LED replacements come in. There will be a list of Halogen bulb code numbers that the LEDs are meant to replace. The male sockets on these LED replacements will be shaped just like the sockets on your original Halogen bulbs so they will plug in easily. However, just like LEDs bulbs that replace the old incandescent bulbs in your table lamps or ceiling sockets, they have an electronic section included in there base to run the LEDs and it makes the LED bulb slightly longer than the much simpler Halogen bulb. For my stove hood it meant that the bulb would not quite fit into the reflector in the hood. I had to use a Dremel tool to remove a bit of the reflector to get a proper fit. The LED bulb is just as bright but runs SO much cooler and uses so much less electricity that now I can use the range hood as a night light in the kitchen. I never felt safe doing that with the two Halogen bulbs since they ran so hot that they were burning the fixture that held them in the stainless steel hood and were melting the wiring entering the socket base. This upgrade to your range hood is well worth the effort.

This is the Cooper product #6107; Standard Series Occupancy Sensor, 3-Way, 500W/400W, Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent Rapid Start Ballast.

Do NOT use to control light fixtures with CFL or LED lamps!

Connect this switch by using the diagram for the #6107 Single-Pole or 3-Way (match your existing switch) linked below.

https://objects.eanixter.com/PD365967.PDF

These Halogen bulbs are inefficient, and run so hot that they often damage the reflector and bulb socket if they are left on too long. Fortunately there is an easy fix for this. At most stores that sell the exact replacement Halogen bulbs (Lowes, Home Depot and others) you will see a selection of LED bulbs on the same display rack that will fit into the same socket the Halogen bulbs use. It is IMPORTANT that you know the code number stamped on the base of your Halogen bulb AND its voltage because some Halogen bulbs are 12 volts and some are 110 volts. If you can't read the labeling on the bulb, look for the wiring diagram usually glued inside the range hood or look in your owner's manual. Once you know your Halogen bulb's code number, look at the packages that the LED replacements come in. There will be a list of Halogen bulb code numbers that the LEDs are meant to replace. The male sockets on these LED replacements will be shaped just like the sockets on your original Halogen bulbs so they will plug in easily. However, just like LEDs bulbs that replace the old incandescent bulbs in your table lamps or ceiling sockets, they have an electronic section included in there base to run the LEDs and it makes the LED bulb slightly longer than the much simpler Halogen bulb. For my stove hood it meant that the bulb would not quite fit into the reflector in the hood. I had to use a Dremel tool to remove a bit of the reflector to get a proper fit. The LED bulb runs SO much cooler and uses so much less electricity that now I can use the range hood as a night light in the kitchen. I never felt safe doing that with the two Halogen bulbs since they ran so hot that they were burning the fixture that held them in the stainless steel hood and were melting the wiring entering the socket base. This upgrade to your range hood is well worth the effort.

Due to the solid state design of LED lighting, there are some important features that will be very useful especially when it comes to outdoor, landscape LED lighting. Safety of 12V LED lights. First distinguishing feature is safety. As compared to incandescent landscape lighting, low voltage LED lights are much more energy efficient and because of that, they are more fireproof. In other words, with lesser energy flow, the chances of fire getting started due to malfunction, overheating, or similar circumstance is relatively lower. Also, the electric short can not cause as much damage as with the 110V voltage lights. As opposed to halogen lights, there is hardly a fear of explosion of the LED light bulb upon overheating or other malfunction. Finally, LED lights are cold to the touch, adding to passers by safety.

Hello There,
If you plan to have LED lights in your household the easyest thing is to buy the ones, they are made for line voltage (120 V). You have choices for bulb like shape or tubes. The tubes are available for direct replacement (using the existing ballast) ot the line voltage ones (the fixture's wiring should be modified and the ballast needs to be removed). The power saving is constant, by the time passing by you are saving.
Hopefully, this will help you. If you have more specific question, please let me know.

Your issue is that the dimmer is not rated to handle the type of fixture/lamps its controlling.

From a lighting control standpoint, the 12V-lamps classify as "low-voltage halogen" and, somewhere in that circuit, have a transformer(s) converting the 120V~ down to 12V~. Using incandescent dimmers (like the one you are using) can cause compatibility issues with those transformers. What I suspect is happening is that the incompatibily is either throwing voltage spikes or current spikes on the line which are causing the dimmer to enter some sort of "safety" mode to shut everything down before any problems occur.

My recommendation is to first figure out what type of transformer it is: Either magnetic low-voltage, or electronic low-voltage. Ideally you would contact the transformer manufacturer (or look up their specs online) to figure that out. Other rules of thumb: if the transformer's big & bulky, it's probably magnetic - conversely if its lightweight, it's probably electronic. If its only one transformer controlling all of the lamps together, it's probably magnetic - conversely if its one of those transformers where the transformer and light bulb come togheter as one assembled unit and then snap into the track, it's probably electronic.

Then make sure the dimmer is rated for magnetic low-voltage, or electronic low-voltage (depending upon what the transformer is).

You said they are 50 watt GU10's, so I would assume they are 120V halogens, and you must simply have gotten a bad dimmer. But if these GU10's are 50 watt equivalent (LED's or CFL's) then the bulbs will have their own transformers built into them, and would be incompatible with a dimmer switch. It also might be the case that you have low voltage halogens which would use a transformer, shared or individual, and these would also be incompatible with a dimmer. (I don't know offhand if GU10's are available with low voltage halogens.)

Certain dimmers can control standard incandescent lamps that use 120 volts while other dimmers can control low voltage xenon or halogen light sources that use 12 or 24 volts.