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Posted by TKM on October 20, 2007, 2:34 pm
>>
>> anyone tried dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs. How well do the work
>> > and do they smoothly dim? What brand name did you use?
>>
>> > Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >>Same as experience as TKM and Ken. I bought one Philips Marathon
>> >>Classic 65 CFL dimmable flood as a test because I wanted to replace
>> >>the 20 or so I have installed in can lights throughout the house. The
>> >>CFL dimmed fairly smooth until it cut out completely at about the last
>> >>third of the dimmers range. The lamps output was very cool as I
>> >>expected. I took it out after about 30 seconds. My opinion is that
>> >>they suck.
>>
>> > The government wants us to use the CF lamps and LEDs and companies
>> > like GE are dramatically scaling down their incandescent bulb
>> > production.
>>
>> > Unless there are some new technology breakthroughs, our dimming days
>> > are going to be over...
>>
>> There will be plenty of changes in residential lighting during the next
>> few
>> years, no doubt. I think we'll see improvements in CFL dimming, however,
>> because commercial fluorescent dimming systems already do a good job --
>> they
>> dim smoothly right down to zero output. The problem is that the dimmer
>> controls we have around today were designed for incandescent lamps. We
>> now
>> need controls specifically designed for CFLs.
>>
>> The CFL dimming test that I reported also had a second part which was
>> dimming an LED downlight (the LR6 unit made by LLF which draws 12
>> watts).
>> Seehttp://www.llfinc.com/index.aspx Using the same standard Lutron
>> dimmer, the LR6 nicely dimmed down to about 3 watts without any
>> significant
>> color change and then it went out. Our little test group concluded that
>> LEDs dim better than screw-in CFLs, and with a bit of work on the
>> controls,
>> LEDs would dim just fine.
>>
>> TKM- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>
> I haven't even gotten to the dimming issue. I bought a 4 pack of FEIT
> CFL's that look like indoor floods. Put them in my kitchen. First
> problem, they don't fit the can because the neck area is slightly
> wider than a regular flood. And yes, they are the correct R type for
> the can. So, I have to buy extenders.
>
> Next proiblem, they take a good 2 mins to reach maybe 75% of
> brightness. In the first min, it's like a 30W bulb, which is just
> great when you come into the kitchen at night. Solution? We'll
> since they use less energy, I just leave them on a lot more... Doh!
>
> Second problem, one failed after 2 months. Replaced it with another,
> and it's gone in a month too.
>
> I've had much better results with the spira type that I use in my
> garage. They get to reasonable output a lot faster and haven't blown
> up yet.
>
> The huge problem here is a lack of specs. When you go to buy them,
> you should be able to read on the package how long they take to reach
> 70% of output, how low you can dim them, how long they last... Oh,
> wait, they already tell you that, and in some cases, it's a lie.
There are standard specs. and CFLs are being tested against them. See:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/product_specs/program_reqs/cfls_prog_req.pdf
(Page 12-13). There's plenty of junk out there; but I've not had a problem
when I buy Energy Star CFLs. No failures in four years, for example.
TKM
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