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#1
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Dimmer For Lights
Hello,
Have a light dimmer that is used to dim some overhead lights in the dining room. It's quite old, and a vertical moving lever style. Guess you would say it's analog, as you can set the bulb intensity anywhere you like, or totally off. The lights it controls are, presently, the normal incandescent type. If and when we have to replace these bulbs with either the new LED types or Halogen, or..., can I assume that any new Dimmer I buy will work with them ? Or, are there specific Dimmers for specific types ? If so, any details on them would be appreciated. Would hate to have to do it twice. Thaks, Bob --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com |
#2
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Dimmer For Lights
On Thursday, March 27, 2014 7:15:54 AM UTC-4, Bob wrote:
Hello, Have a light dimmer that is used to dim some overhead lights in the dining room. It's quite old, and a vertical moving lever style. Guess you would say it's analog, as you can set the bulb intensity anywhere you like, or totally off. The lights it controls are, presently, the normal incandescent type. If and when we have to replace these bulbs with either the new LED types or Halogen, or..., can I assume that any new Dimmer I buy will work with them ? Or, are there specific Dimmers for specific types ? If so, any details on them would be appreciated. Would hate to have to do it twice. Thaks, Bob --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com Any dimmmer will work with halogen. Most dimmers will work with LEDs, but you should check with the particular LED bulb manufacturer's info to be sure. |
#3
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Dimmer For Lights
On 3/27/2014 7:15 AM, Bob wrote:
Hello, Have a light dimmer that is used to dim some overhead lights in the dining room. It's quite old, and a vertical moving lever style. Guess you would say it's analog, as you can set the bulb intensity anywhere you like, or totally off. The lights it controls are, presently, the normal incandescent type. When you say "normal", I'm assuming you are talking about the regular round bulb and not a decorative type bulb. Many dining room fixtures use the candelabra style bulbs and they are still going to be made. Our light has some 60W fancy bulbs and since we don't usually run them at 100%, they have lasted over 20 years now. If that is what you have or can use, keep them a bit shy of full power and yhou don't have to worry about changing anything for a long time. |
#4
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Dimmer For Lights
On Thu, 27 Mar 2014 07:15:54 -0400, Bob wrote:
Hello, Have a light dimmer that is used to dim some overhead lights in the dining room. It's quite old, and a vertical moving lever style. Guess you would say it's analog, as you can set the bulb intensity anywhere you like, or totally off. The lights it controls are, presently, the normal incandescent type. If and when we have to replace these bulbs with either the new LED types or Halogen, or..., can I assume that any new Dimmer I buy will work with them ? Or, are there specific Dimmers for specific types ? If so, any details on them would be appreciated. Would hate to have to do it twice. Thaks, Bob Dont try dimming any CFL bulbs, you'll burn them out quickly. I believe they make CFL bulbs for dimming, but they are costly and I've never heard how well they work or anything more about them. Any filament type bulb will work fine, such as incandescent or halogen. As far as LED, I'd check with the manufacturer. Never use dimmers on any florescent tube fixtures, although there might be special bulbs and fixtures made for that too, but I'm not sure.... Personally, if you run your lights in a decorative chandelier, have smaller wattage bulbs, and keep them on dim, I'd stick with the incandescent bulbs. You'd probably not save much electricity with other bulb types, and will spend more for the bulbs and special dimmers, etc. In the end, no $ savings. A 60w incan bulb at half brightness is only using half the power (about 30w). Of course, there's another option. Rewire the fixture, so that there are two switches. Then put in one 25W (equivalant) CFL on switch #1. And put two 60W CFL on switch #2. [Assuming you have a 3 bulb fixture]. This way you can use the 25W for dim, and both 60w for bright. (Or all three bulbs for slightly brighter). And dont they make 3way CFL bulbs now? I believe I've seen them. That could be another option, but would mean replacing all the sockets and adding wiring. Lots of possibilities, probably not worth the cost to change them. Just let things as they are...... Not to mention that I have the feeling that CFL bulbs will likely fade away in the near future, as LED gets more affordable. We're in a transition phase with lighting. Kind of like when we went from vinyl record to 8-track, then casette tape...... Soon, our lighting will reach the CD state! |
#5
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Dimmer For Lights
On Thu, 27 Mar 2014 07:15:54 -0400, Bob wrote:
Hello, Have a light dimmer that is used to dim some overhead lights in the dining room. It's quite old, and a vertical moving lever style. Guess you would say it's analog, as you can set the bulb intensity anywhere you like, or totally off. The lights it controls are, presently, the normal incandescent type. If and when we have to replace these bulbs with either the new LED types or Halogen, or..., can I assume that any new Dimmer I buy will work with them ? No. definitely not. Read the label on the dimmer carefully to see what it will and won't work with. Or, are there specific Dimmers for specific types ? Yes. If so, any details on them would be appreciated. Would hate to have to do it twice. Thaks, Bob --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com |
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