It's not stupid, but 'brightness' isn't the most meaningful term. Watt for watt, halogens generally provide a bit more light. On the other hand halogens tend to be more sharply focused, less diffuse, so they send all their light in one direction instead of spreading it more widely over a larger area. This is especially true of the low-voltage MR-type bulbs that are likely in your track fixtures; they make great accent/spotlights, but are not so good for ambient lighting. Can you say more about exactly what sort of fixtures and bulbs you are using, what the lights are pointed at, whether the old non-halogen floods were directed the same way, and what seems dimmer now - the surfaces they are pointed at or the room in general?

Thanks jon. It's exactly like you have described - the light doesn't seem to be spread around the room, but rather it looks as if someone is about to get on stage and perform in the corner of my kitchen. I have each light pointed at a corner of the room, which is exactly as I had the old fixture, but the old fixture lit the whole area, and the halogen fixture makes it look like I am trying to highlight something in the corner...a very weird effect. I am going to return the fixture and get something else. I can't see how this will work. I am so disappointed - I had wanted a better light, something that didn't distort colors at night, and something brighter. This fixture just isn't it. Thanks for your explanation of why it's not working.

Just to be clear, this effect is not inherent to halogen; it has much more to do with the particular sort of halogen bulbs that your fixture uses, which I'm guessing are little, MR "mirror reflector" types, probably 2" in diameter. Does this sound like what you've got?

If you prefer the color of halogen light but want it distributed more like your old bulbs, you might try Westinghouse's "halomax" bulbs, which are a sort of hybrid, a halogen capsule paired with the type of reflector typically used with non-halogen floods. I haven't used them but I have heard good things about them.

If you need a lot more light than you've had, you might have to think in terms of installing more fixtures. Changing fixture types but keeping the same total wattage can only make marginal improvements at best, unless you switch to fluorescents, which involves another set of tradeoffs. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: 50W halomax flood

The bulbs that I got don't say MR on the package. The package says 50W.GU10.120V and 40(degree symbol). They look to be about 2".

Thanks for the information on the bulbs - I will try those. I changed fixtures for two reasons - I didn't care for the look of the old fixture, and I wanted better light (not necessarily more, just less of a yellow effect). I think that I am better off to try a fixture that will take floods, and try the halomax.

Thanks again - you have been a huge help!

Thought I would add an update.

Before taking down the halogen track fixture, I tried getting another light to add to the track, and playing around with the direction of the lights. That did the trick. It's much better now.

Thanks again for your help.

I'm glad you found a solution. To your earlier post, the GU10 tells you about the base of the bulb -- two pins 10mm apart, if I remember right. The 40 degrees is the beam angle, telling you how wide a cone of light the bulb projects. It sounds like you've got line voltage MR16s which probably aren't quite as crisply focused as the low-voltage version, but close enough.

Anyhow, glad to help.