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@Fox
I decided I wanted one of these in our flat - you get them in trendy eateries, coffee shops and so on all over the place so thought it couldn't be that hard. They look really cool:
So, looked around and they are impossible to get hold of here, probably due to incandescent bulbs being banned and everything. So I had a look on eBay, found a seller who shipped internationally and it arrived today. I'd already bought the required US size lamp holder (it's an E26, which is a massive edison screw).
Unfortunately I'd neglected to consider voltage. It's a 130v bulb, but UK supply is 240v.
So I predict that if I put it in my lamp holder and turn it on it will probably blow.
I thought the best solution was probably a dimmer switch, but modern dimmers, instead of being variable resistors, actually switch the power on and off 120 times a second. This means your lecky isn't wasted as heat, so they're more efficient, but it also means peak voltage could reach 240v in the 120 times a second it is on.
At least for cheaper ones. Because the continual switching on and off can make the filament vibrate (which makes the bulb buzz) apparently more expensive dimmers also contain an inductor choke and interference capacitor which 'smooth out' the current by continually storing and releasing current.
So in theory, I buy a better dimmer, put bulb in, it works fine.
But this is just a theory, which if wrong will mean my lovely light bulb gets fried and I waste money on a dimmer which is no use to me.
So the question is, will a continually varying 0-240v, smoothed out by the inductor choke and interference capacitor, fry the bulb, or not?