I've had a halogen lamp in my living room for years and honestly it's crazy how much heat it generates. I have to keep it away from the curtains or there's a risk of fire. Is it normal for this type of bulb to get that hot?
The heat comes from the tungsten filament that burns at a very high temperature to produce that intense light - it's completely normal, and you're right to keep it away from curtains. Halogen lamps consume a lot of energy as heat so they're really dangerous near flammable stuff - honestly if I were you I'd think about replacing them with LEDs, they're so much cooler and use way less power.
it's just that a halogen lamp is basically a resistor burning, so you can't really avoid the heat. the thing is the filament gets to like 2500 degrees to produce that super bright white light, and obviously everything around it gets cooked. you're right to be careful with the curtains.
if you really want to reduce the damage you can put the lamp higher up or move it further away, use a metal lampshade that directs the heat better toward the ceiling instead of to the sides. i had a halogen floor lamp in the living room and after a year it started to discolor the wall behind it, so i just changed the position and it became less of a problem.
the real thing is halogen lamps consume quite a bit and they really pump out a lot of heat alongside the light. modern LED bulbs give you the same quality of light without the furnace nearby, so if you want to replace your lamp someday it's definitely the move. but if you're keeping it just be careful about what's around it and you should be fine.
Never leave a halogen lamp on without supervision and away from anything that could melt - that's not a joke. What people tend to forget to mention is that the glass of the bulb itself can reach 250-300 degrees right next to the filament, so even the base gets really hot - if you absolutely have to touch it once it's off, wait at least a few minutes.
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