gregz wrote in

rg:

BobR wrote:
On Nov 14, 3:23 pm, N8N wrote:
On Nov 14, 2:19 am, Ashton Crusher wrote:

I replaced the incandescent bulbs in a 6 bulb fixture with
non-dimmable CFLs. I didn't realize it at the time I did it that
the switch was a dimmer switch. Realizing it was a dimmer switched
circuit I tried dimming them. Didn't work, they were either on or
off. So just to see what would happen I took out two of the CFLs
and put regular incandescent back in. With the inc bulbs there the
dimmer would dim the non-dimmable CFLs. Not as well as real
dimmable CFLs but certainly enough to be dim enough to satisfy my
needs in the dimming department. there is a slight buzzing when I
dim this setup but it's not enough to be a problem to me for the
few times I want to dim them.

So what's different about the dimmable CFLs compared to the
non-dimmable ones? Do they just add a resistor in parallel inside
the dimmible bulbs???

I'm not sure, but at least as of a few years ago I wasn't able to
find a dimmable CFL that worked acceptably. I did notice more
recently that the "big box" stores started selling dimmers that
apparently were designed specifically to work with CFLs, but even
the ones with displays to test out the various dimmers, timers, etc.
did not have any of them installed. So, after spending lots of time
and money trying to find a good dimmable CFL I just gave up and put
incandescents in the few fixtures that I had that were controlled by
dimmers. Fortunately I was able to return most of the CFLs that I
tried.

I'll revisit it again in a few years if the stores ever let you
actually see how the dimmers and CFLs work together, but my
suspicion is that they'll never really work well because LEDs are
the new hot thing and I suspect that they'll be ready for prime time
soon enough, and apparently those handle dimming better than any
fluorescent ever did.

nate

I have yet to find or see a truely dimmable CFL Bulb unless you want
to count how long the damn things take to actually produce the rated
light.

I have replaced most of the lights in my house with CFL's but have
found that they don't last much longer than incadescents and cost
more in the long run.

I bought a dim able cfl at the home depot, over 10 years ago. Worked
pretty good. Really nice color temperature. There is a threshold you
have to deal with. The bad part, it cost over $15.
This was really cool. I modified a 500 watt floor lamp into the cfl,
using the same dimmer. I broke the cfl while moving. Its steal broke.


Bought a batch of feit ceiling cfl floods, said dimmable. One blew out
immediately. The others worked like ****.

Can't relate. Never shoved a turd in a light socket myself.

From costco..

Greg