Dimmed Flourescents

[laketime]

I had a customer ask about dimming CFL's and how they worked. I have never used them before so I was wondering....How does the lamp dim with a standard dimmer? How far down can you dim them before they cut out? Does it effect lamp life as compared to non-dimmable CFL's?

 

[Sierrasparky]

Most dimable CFL screw in med base lamps do not act like a incandescant counterpart. Most if not all will not dim to low low levels. They seem to work from about 35-50% thru 100% bright. Most of these lamps need to go full bright before they can dim. If dimmed to low they will flicker , make noise and fail. I have not had great luck with longevity with these lamps. If they last only a year and cost several times as much as a typical halogen I don't see the savings. I have Halogens that have lasted 8 years on a dimmer. I don't have any CFL's that have lasted near that long.
Maybe in the future the CFL's will be better. The CFL's today are far better than a few years ago.

 

[danickstr]

There is a digital dimmer for fluorescents but they basically are not that great, with current tech. It has to be a digital dimer, analog (magnetic) will just funk out the lights.