Eco Lightbulbs for Dimmer Switches?

[compact]

I'm about to put dimmer switches in the front room, however the painter said that with the new eco lightbulbs.
You have to choose ones especially for the dimmer switches and they are very expensive.

Is this true?

 

[johnnykc]

TRUE ...You will have to use compact CFLs that have been designed to be dimmable... you cannot and must not use standard CFLs..

Expensive? ....what price to save humanity?

 

[Steve]

Try ebay. megaman are a good brand.

Make sure you choose "dimmerable" and not "dimmable".

Dimmable lamps have dimming circuitry built in - they work by flicking the lightswitch on and off in a certain sequence. Turn on, and the light starts cycling up and down. Turn off at the brightness level you want. Turn back on, and that brightness level will be set. A bit of a faff, and having several on one switch may prove bothersome. These cannot be used with dimmers.

Dimmerable lamps can be used with dimmers.

 

[davelx]

Don't forget that most normal dimmers have a minimum load requirement of 40 or 60 W (that's REAL load, nof CFL light output equivalent!). So if you have only a couple of 11W CFLs on the dimmer it's unlikely to work properly.

You can get low-load dimmers specifically intended for dimmerable CFLs with a min load of only 20W:

http://www.1stopelectrics.com/category/3/1/#results



I also find the Varilight Digiflux dimmerables better than the Megaman.

 

[flameport]

I'm about to put dimmer switches in the front room

Buy some table or floor standing lights instead. Far less bother than purchasing special dimmers and special lamps for them - both of which can easily be destroyed when someone replaces a lamp with the wrong type.

 

[Steve]

Another thought. A dimmer switch supplying both a filament lamp and a dimmerable CFL. What would happen?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

the painter said....

 

[johnnykc]

Another thought. A dimmer switch supplying both a filament lamp and a dimmerable CFL. What would happen?

Steve... a VARILIGHT 'dimmable' CFL should work fine in a circuit with a filament lamp...if anything it will do away with the problem of underloading your dimmer.

 

[davelx]

Another thought. A dimmer switch supplying both a filament lamp and a dimmerable CFL. What would happen?

Works fine - I've done exactly that with an X10 LD11.