Megaman do dimmable cfls: but to replace the 6 candle bulbs above our dining
table would be somewhere around £90 (And I doubt if they have the same shape
and size yet, though M are, as far as I have seen, the only ones to make a
replacement for 'golf ball' sized lamps - which seem to be going very well
so far though also very expensive... Sshh!)

Some controls like some photocell switches, still have some power available
even in the 'off' condition. This meant that when we changed our outside
lights to cfl some of them cycled on and off continuously, and the photo
switch soon packed up. (Interestingly the v expensive - and only available
in much too bright - cfls with built in photoswitches, were also very short
lived.) Changing to one of the large switch sensors as used in street lamps,
however, enabled us to run half a dozen cfls outdoors, off the same switch -
and using the same energy as just one of our previous bulbs...

Don't know if there is a similar switch based alternative for the dimming
problem though - sorry! Our dimmers don't seem to last very long even with
ordinary tungstens, in any case, and it is a real pain that the dimmer
modules themselves are not cheaply and individually available, even though
they are only held in with one nut and would be very easy for anyone to
change!

S


"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Hooch writes:
I know they're not supposed to be used with dimmer and electronic
switches, but what physically happens? (apart from flickering at
anything other than full power?

It depends how the electronic control gear inside behaves when
operated outside its design criteria. Some seem to dim a little
and then go out, some don't dim at all and then go out, one early
one I tried dimed a bit and then got much brighter than normal.
If there's no filament lamp load also on the dimmer, then you are
also operating the dimmer well outside its design criteria, and
it probably won't be presenting steadily reducing RMS voltage as
you turn the knob.

The stupid thing is that dimmable CFLs have been manufactured for
years, but presumably there isn't any perceived demand for them in
the UK, given by the complete lack of availability here. The
nearest there is is a range of lamps which move between 4(?) power
levels each time you momentarily switch them off, which is rather
a pathetic compromise on the controllability of a standard dimmer.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]