Can you get low energy bulbs which work in dimmers?

[Deansplit]

I was under the impression that low voltage lamps used less energy but just been advised they don't! So my next Q is if low energy bulbs are my only way of reducing bills, can you get them to work in dimmers?

Also, are they all the slow start type which are filled with gas and take a while to reach full brightness?

Thanks

 

[ericmark]

Yes you can get special discharge lamps that will dim. As to low energy of course any low wattage lamp used low energy by normally we look at the lumens per watt but of course as to efficiency this only works if the heat is not wanted.

 

[davelx]

Did you try Google?

http://www.varilight.co.uk/Pages/page digiflux.htm

http://www.megamanuk.com/megaman-products/lamps/?series_name=dimmerable-series

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Do try an example of any dimmable CFLs you find, before you buy lots, to check that you like the colour, and that they work well with your dimmers.

And get rid of inefficient light fittings, by which I mean ones that aren't designed to light rooms. If you're using spotlights to provide general room illumination you're always going to be on the back foot, because you need to use so many of them to overcome their designed-in unsuitability, which is that they are designed to not provide a good spread of light.

Really you should avoid using replacement type CFLs at all, i.e. the ones with the ballast built into the base. They are expensive, bulky, and bad for the environment. Better to replace the lighting with designs which have the ballast as part of the fitting and use CFLs which are just the lamp.

You may get a choice of ballasts, or you may find that you can replace the supplied one, so that you can have ones which are dimmable or have batteries to provide emergency lighting - it's definitely worth considering that facility for halls, landings, stairs etc.

 

[electronicsuk]

Let's not forget that there are loads of dimmable LED lamps out there now. Take these for example - there's hundreds more if you care to search Google or eBay.

Despite the seller's claims, light output is still only about half that of a 50w halogen, but the beam angle is a little wider than typical MR16 reflectors supplied with most downlights.

Mind you, at £25 a pop it'd soon turn out very expensive to light a room this way. Come back in three years and see where the prices are then

 

[Deansplit]

Mmm, yes there come s point where you come full circle and opt for the inefficient bulb!... I'd need to live my life 5 times over to get the savings back from the price of the low energy bulbs, it really doesn't make sense, can't imagine why people would buy them.

 

[electronicsuk]

can't imagine why people would buy them.

Environmental (even if flawed) conscience, part L compliance, peace of mind over their energy bills...

Bearing in mind the price rises likely in the energy sector over the coming years, I think these things will start to pay for themselves quicker than expected, if the claimed lifespan of the lamps is realistic.

 

[Deansplit]

Can't say I'm conscious about the environment at all, I have a classic car which kind of out weighs the damage - I more than do my bit in recycling in other areas. I just want a bulb which fits to the fittings I've chosen for their appearance (and not be dictated by bulk standard, often ugly low energy units, which don't poke out cos they're too deep and of course, last long and don't cost a lot to run. Not asking for 10% of the running cost, 50 or so would do, just want to not have to jump up everytime and switch off lights (cos there'll be a lot of them in the room - 47m2).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If there's a lot of them it's because you've chosen ones which don't work well.

How would you feel if that room had to have support pillars on a 1m grid because the architect deliberately designed and chose materials for the walls and floors etc that couldn't support spans greater than that?

Would you think "it's fine to use the wrong design and the wrong materials, because we can compensate for that by putting in lots of supports"?

Or would you think he was an idiot?

Put a bit of thought into it - maybe eventually you'll realise that using lighting products in a way they were specifically designed not to be suitable for is idiotic.

 

[davelx]

The varilight versions work well for me, but note that they only dim to about 10% and then they just go off. When turning on they stay off till about 10% and then turn on and fade up smoothly from there.

 

[Deansplit]

Put a bit of thought into it - maybe eventually you'll realise that using lighting products in a way they were specifically designed not to be suitable for is idiotic.

Oh here we go again Ban - thought you'd go off on one at some point, didn't take long before your cutting remarks crept in did it! Deja-vous?... So spotlights are only designed for what...?... to go above a mirror for shaving or fixing your face? I appreciate you're a qualified electrician but think 'you' need to put a bit of thought into interior design and have a bit of vision of what also looks aesthetically pleasing too. As an interior designer, I know that people don't want 'off the shelf' or 'pedestrian/run of the mill' units. We could all go around dressed in a shirt and tie, with straight trousers and black shoes... but many would think that would be 'IDIOTIC' too and choose to wear something a bit different, oooohhhheerrrr, dangerous grounds eh!

When I said there will be lots, it's because I want several circuits, it's for a 47m/sq kitchen with a far from normal flat ceiling. It'll have counter lights, dining area lights, breakfast bar lights, some purely just lighting a decorative slate wall, some overhang cupboards, only for aesthetics, then I have wall uplights and main lights over a pool table - all will be chosen for the mood or job required.

 

[ericmark]

OK personally I use discharge lamps because they last. The one on my landing was second hand when fitted ripped out guts and put all the starting gear and batteries in a enclosure above the lamp in the loft around 20W fitted in 1995 and never changed the tube. Only maintenance was to repair end cover when hit moving furniture.

The kitchen is not switch mode so tubes don't last as long but still last around 3 years each.

Dinning and living room have Philips globe lamps 18 of them my wife wanted something that looked nice all fitted June 2009 and one bulb has failed.

Before the change it seemed I was changing a bulb a week and we bought the bulbs by the packet and still have a cupboard full of bulbs mainly BA22d fitting which now only fit lamp in office and it will take some years to use them all up.

As to spot lamps yes I do have some. Bathroom has 4 x 50W pods and I got two spare packets of 10 bulbs when I got them in 2002 and one left although I have left it with blown bulbs for some time. 12V transformer not an inverter. Got them second hand being got rid of was really a mistake to fit them but 200W does warm one in the shower.

Bedroom two GU10 spots behind bed one with 11W discharge lamp the other with 50W tungsten the 11W never been changed the 50W about 1 every 6 months and hardly used. If I could get another 11W to fit holder I would but each time I have bought one it had rounded rather than straight sided back and will not fit in holder.

Only dimmer left is in office was a bed room and it was fitted then.
As to saving energy no they don't as central heating runs longer to compensate for loss of heat from bulbs and had to change thermostat so warmer in evening than during day as bulbs no longer do that for me.

But as to maintenance they are great. Fit and forget.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So spotlights are only designed for what...?...

Producing small spots of light.

As an interior designer, I know that people don't want 'off the shelf' or 'pedestrian/run of the mill' units.

Which is what small torches set into the ceiling are.

Which is what "plug replacement" CFLs with integral ballasts are.

As an interior designer do you also know that prioritising form over function to the extent that function is hideously compromised and the design engineeringly offensive is utterly utterly wrong?

When I said there will be lots, it's because I want several circuits, it's for a 47m/sq kitchen with a far from normal flat ceiling. It'll have counter lights, dining area lights, breakfast bar lights, some purely just lighting a decorative slate wall, some overhang cupboards, only for aesthetics, then I have wall uplights and main lights over a pool table - all will be chosen for the mood or job required.

Fine - as long as you choose products designed to do the job you're calling on them to do (noting, as above, that form cannot always be the most important factor), not products which are designed to do something contrary to how you're going to use them.