PAR30 and R30 bulbs?

J

JaredSMark

Active member
I've got some new track lights on the way. I'm unsure of which type of bulbs to buy. I want the track lights in the ceiling to function more as spotlights than floodlights if that helps. But what's the difference between the PAR30 and R30? I'll be using a dimmer along with these turned low, so brightness of them isn't a concern at all. I need them to be a good color (I would prefer more white/transparent than yellow), but my biggest concern is that I need them to 'spot' very well on particular objects.
 
PAR vs R...

PAR (parabolic aluminized reflector) are manufactured in more beam flavours generally, though don't expect much variety at your local home depot. PAR bulbs can be found on everything from weekend DJ floodlights to aircraft landing gear. The number after the PAR is 1/8 of an inch, meaning PAR 64 = 8 inches in diameter.

"R" for reflector, are lamps really just for recessed lighting fixtures. They just get the light out the hole is all. Not as many beam flavours widely available.

Get MR16s with a standard screw base (called medium base).

Google is your friend.
Craig
 
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This is what I have. It says it takes PAR30 and R30. Not sure if an MR16 is compatible. I googled it but I didn't get the exact info I was looking for. It'd be great to actually see it.


But yeah I want a whitish spot bulb for these.
 
PAR 30 = 3 3/4 inches, so any bulb with a medium base under that diameter will fit. MR16 = 2 inches. Halogen will be mostly as white as you can get. But dimming will always shift to red/orange no matter what.
 
I'm having trouble finding some MR16 120v GU10 Halogen spot bulbs. I can find the 12v spots but not the 120v spots.
 
JaredSMark said:
I've got some new track lights on the way. I'm unsure of which type of bulbs to buy. I want the track lights in the ceiling to function more as spotlights than floodlights if that helps. But what's the difference between the PAR30 and R30? I'll be using a dimmer along with these turned low, so brightness of them isn't a concern at all. I need them to be a good color (I would prefer more white/transparent than yellow), but my biggest concern is that I need them to 'spot' very well on particular objects.
Click to expand...

The main difference to me is that the R30 just dumps light indescriminately. The Par30 puts out light in a focused pattern. You can specify the beam spread with a Par lamp; many are available from narrow spot to wide flood (not that you'd know that from visiting a big box store). That geometry you learned in high school and swore you'd never need? This is a chance to use it. :grin:

Both the Par30 and R30 are tungsten lamps, residential, not cinema. So they aren't 3200K, they are closer to 2800K. If you dim them, they'll go even more orange. If you want white, dimmers are out.

So I'm thinking you need a Par30 with the beam spread and wattage necessary to give you what you need without using a dimmer.

An alternative is the low voltage DC lamps like the MR-16. Takes 12VDC, where the Par30 takes 120VAC, so it takes a different fixture. Still, even though this technology is also tungsten halogen, you can get MR-16s up to 5000K (Solux sells them) which is a beautiful white light, and you can get them from narrow spots to wide floods. Typically you can get wattages up to 75W (50W is most common IIRC). Light color will vary with the accuracy of the power supply -- some fixtures give less that 12VDC, so your light temperature drops giving you more orange. I've found the Halo track fixtures to be pretty accurate voltage wise. The Solux fixtures were accurate too but when I tried them I couldn't get them to hold their position (cheap plastic knobs got soft as the lamp got hot allowing the fixture to move) and the paint blistered off the fixtures too. Maybe they've fixed these problems by now -- IDK.

There ya go. More than you wanted to know maybe.
 
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