Compact Flourescent

[MrMagic]

Any of you out there aware of any dimmable CF's? If so, what brand and what is an approximate cost? More importantly do they work? Are they reliable and does the Insteon equipment have any problems with them.

Steve

[ewelin]

I have a couple in my house... actually picked them up at the Home Depot. They were on a side rack near the rest of the CLFs, slightly segregated.

Here is their info:
http://www.feitelectric.com/dimmabletwist/dimmabletwist.html

As for how they work... they are dimmable, you don't have quite as much control over the low lighting level as a incandescent. Occasionally you do hear a little buzzing sound if you hit the right brightness percentage... not sure what it is, but I've done it a few times and it does drive me nuts. They were a bit more expensive than the same watt non-dimmable CFL... I haven't tried them on an Insteon switch yet... not sure if I will though, might try some LED lights next, but those seem quite expensive.

[rdunaway62]

I have a few of them in my house. I picked them up really cheap at Lucky's. Since they were so cheap, I bought some for a friend of mine who also uses HCA. They work great.

[KHarms]

How is the initial on-level? I bought some as a test - non dim ones - and when they first come on they are way not-bright. After a bit the get nice and bright but the on-level isn't really good.

[codgers]

I have been using CFLs where I don't need dimming and/or where the shape of the bulb doesn't matter aesthetically. I haven't tried any dimmable ones, since I want to be able to dim to low levels, and I think they all begin to flicker or buzz at low levels.
I use UPB switches, and set them to their non-dimming mode.

One thing to pay attention to is the color temperature on the bulb, especially if you hate that bluish cast people associate with fluorescents. Many print the color temperature on the bulb base and/or packaging. Something around 2900 degrees K will be indistiguishable from an incandescent.

Also, if bulb shape is important, GE is making 40, 60, and 75 watt CFLs encased in a glass envelope that looks almost exactly like an incandescent bulb.

The problem I have is that I still have a lot of incandescents, since I need wide range dimming. Unfortunately, these also tend to be the most used lights in the house, and the ones that get left on all the time when people leave a room.

I recently ran across a way to cut my energy usage on these lights by 1/3, while preserving full dimming and light output. :) It's a new type of incandescent bulb from Philips, and goes by the name of Halogena Energy Advantage, or Halogena Energy Saver. (There are other Philips Halogena bulbs, but they don't offer the 1/3 power savings-look for the "Energy Saver" or "Energy Advantage" name). They utilize a new high efficiency halogen bulb inside a normal glass bulb envelope. The "Energy Saver Brand" is sold at Home Depot for about $5/bulb, and comes in 100W and 60W replacements (actual consumption is 70W and 40W respectively). The "Energy Advantage" version is sold through professional lighting supply dealers, and in addition to the above cited wattages, there is a 50W version for replacing 75W bulbs. You can find them on the web for $8.50-$10. I've replaced most of my incandescents with these, since I live in Calif. where Edison has a tiered rate structure that can go as high as 38.5 cents/kwh. These bulbs will pay for themselves and then some, and I believe they are rated at about 3000 hours. I did a side-by-side comparison in two identical fixtures, one with a 70W Halogena, and the other a 100W normal incandescent, and I couldn't tell the difference.

[MrMagic]

Excellent information Chris. This sounds like what I might be looking for. Turns out I guess that if you look for something long enough, something close enough to do the job for you always surfaces someplace.

Steve

[scottb8888]

I have a dozen or two. They are very hap-hazard. They don't dim below, say, 40%. They do NOT have a long life. I have replaced several within 6 months. Sometimes with a series of can lights, I have to keep one of them as an incandescent to make them work better.

Ovrall, I have not seen a good dimmable one yet. There are many off brands and Phillips makes a few.

[MrMagic]

Ouch, I didn't want to hear that! But, you probably saved me a lot of money. I suspect that for automation purposes, where dimmables are needed, it's probably best to just stick with common incandescent bulbs.

[ewelin]

Might want to try looking into CCFL (Cold cathode fluorescent lamps) bulbs
http://www.betterbulb.com/a19_ccflbulb.html

[scottb8888]

I did try the cold cathode and they seemed to perfom better. In several instances, I still needed to have an incandescent bulb on the circuit.

[mjl]

I really think CFL's will go the way of the dinosaur as soon as they perfect LED bulbs. There are already LED bulb replacements on the market and I think as soon as they offer enough color options to satisfy those of us who do not want the super-bright white everywhere, I think they will catch on. They also do not have the mercury hazard that the CFL's have (not to mention the broken glass).

I don't think electronic dimmers will work on current LED lights, but a mechanical dimmer can dim them somewhat before they shut off. I'm sure they will make dimmable ones if there is enough demand.

One thing I have personally observed regarding LED's is that they get dimmer over time - when they are new, they are very bright, but after a year or two they dim significantly.... this is why I would not recommend LED TV's to anyone yet, but for use in lighting, the degradation might be as much of an issue.

My personal preference is still halogen bulbs - as long as I can still get them - I am using halogen bulbs now as replacements for ceiling fan bulbs and many standard bulbs - they dim very nicely, last a long time, and produce a nice color of light that we like. They do get hot, but that can be a benefit in the winter http://www.hcatech.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif. They work very nicely in lights which you use mostly at a significant dim level - I set my Insteon switches to go on at about 60% typically - a second tap will take it up to 100% if you need a lot of light.

[Don604]

Are CFL's or LED lights resistive or capacitive? My tests on CFL's hasn't been good with on/off toggling. LED's I haven't tried, but if resistive I may just it a try.

Thanks, Don