CFL's and flickering...

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xformer

Senior Member
Location
Dallas, Tx
Occupation
Master Electrician
I recently installed 4 - 13/ 60w cfl's in a ceiling fan along with a cfl rated slide dimmer switch. When the cfl's are dimmed to the lowest setting, they flicker or slightly strobe. anyone run into this problem? This installation was to fix a previous problem of not enough light in the room. The customer has a newly purchased ceiling fan. The fan has a wattage limiter in the light kit limiting it to 190 watts. the 4 - 40wattt lamps that came with the fan are not enough light for the living room. Any suggestions on how to fix either opportunity??
 
Are the CFL's listed as dimmable? And if so the dimming technology for CFL's between the lamp itself and the devices is not worth the packaging they come in. One solution could be LED. Only other solution is to replace the light kit or the PF.

Good Luck.
 

xformer

Senior Member
Location
Dallas, Tx
Occupation
Master Electrician
Are the CFL's listed as dimmable? And if so the dimming technology for CFL's between the lamp itself and the devices is not worth the packaging they come in. One solution could be LED. Only other solution is to replace the light kit or the PF.

Good Luck.

CFL' s are listed as dimmable.
 

xformer

Senior Member
Location
Dallas, Tx
Occupation
Master Electrician
Recessed lighting

if the whole point of cfl's is to save energy, then why add can lights? I am not degrading your response. I thought about the can light option myself. I guess my real question is why the wattage limiter on the fan? To make people install more can lights??
 

Nium

Senior Member
Location
Bethlehem, PA
CFL's and dimmers are frustrating. I've recently spoke with some folks at Lutron and they say the problem they're coming across dimming CFL's (even dimmer rated CFL) is the lack of standardization from one manufacturer to the next. So a dimmer that works with one brand of CFL may or may not work with another.

Back to the problem at hand removing the limiter definitely sounds like the way to go, but then there is the whole legalitys issue that then becomes a concern, because by doing such won't that ruin the UL rating and if there is a problem then what. Maybe trying a different brand CFL would yield better results.

Or maybe it is a conspiracy by recessed lighting manufacturers to sell more cans. LOL. I find it frustrating that incandescents are a proven technology that can be made to consume less electricity with proven dimmers and now their being outlawed for technology that's gonna take years to iron out. Which leaves us trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
 

Electric-Light

Senior Member
The Leviton residential CFL dimmer has a setting for manual low-end limiter. I don't know which one you used, but did you read the manual like you're supposed to?
 

GlennG

Member
Location
Hicksville, NY
Most CFL lamps require a "burn in" time before they will dim properly. I would contact the manufacturer of the lamp and see what kind of requirements if any there are. We installed upwards of fifty high hats in a funeral parlor all with dimable CFL's only to find out after the fact that they required a 100 hour strait "burn in time."
 
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