When someone thinks of halogen lamps, they often think about the common types such as a minican or another type.  But many times people have bought fixtures from Europe that have specified E14 base halogen light bulbs.  When this happens, it often throws people off as they think that the lamp they have is an E12 or candelabra.  This is a different lamp which base looks much similar, but is not at all the same.  The European E14 is a little larger than the candelabra.  Other than this distinct fact, these lamps are the same as any other halogen lamp.  Of course, the voltage on these is a standard 120 volt for US consumers.  In Europe, they generally have a 220 volt rating instead.   Be aware that there are many kinds of halogen bulbs that look similar, but many times they can be very different, so it's important that you know what you have.  Among halogen lamps, this type may be perhaps the widest category and encompasses everything from low wattage bipin lamps to higher wattage minican E14 base halogen bulbs, so it can be a little overwhelming.  But when you look at these bulbs, there are different bases, bulb sizes, finishes, voltage and of course the wattage.  Like all halogen bulbs, they are filled with a special gas that actually rebuilds the filament and provides longer average lifespan than normal incandescent bulbs.  These halogen lamps burns about 10 percent brighter, whiter, and hotter than normal incandescent bulbs. Extra heat is typically not a benefit, but whiter, bright light is something that is useful in a large number of lighting applications. 

When trying to identify your E14 base halogen, one of the best places to obviously start is at the base of the lamp, the part where it makes it's electrical connection.  Here's how to tell the difference between various types of bases and so on.  The smaller bipin lamps will have two pins which have a specific spacing in millimeters which could be anything from 4 to 9 millimeters.  These are usually a lower watt lamp, but some get into a high watt category.  They vary from 12 to 120 volts.  Another type of single ended halogen has one of several bases which would be the E14 which we're talking about here, DC (double contact bayonet) or Candelabra (E12) and the minican (E11) base.  E14 base halogen light bulbs are available in wide variety of bulbs and wattages as low as 75 watt all the way up to 250 watts.  On our web site, we have them listed with an E14 code. The designation would be like the following, 75Q/E14, 100Q/E14, 150Q/E14 or 250Q/E14.

Like all halogen bulbs, these should not be touched with your skin in any way and sometimes the packaging comes with a foam or paper wrapper to prevent this. If they are touched, the life span of the bulb will be greatly reduced. In case you ever do touch a bulb, wipe it thoroughly with a soft cloth. Bulbs that are covered, like the PAR and some of the MR halogen bulbs, are okay to touch, since you are not touching the actual bulb but a heavy, thick glass that covers the light bulb.  Most commonly, they are put into an enclosure but be aware of touching a halogen capsule itself directly, is not a good idea as it will shorten lamp life.