Hi...
Anyone happen to know what the diff is between dimmable cfl's and the regular ones?
Friend has a chandelier with half a dozen bulbs in it, and would like to use cfl's. Confusion is that the dimmable ones cost about 4 times as much, and regular ones work real real wierd :)
Thanks, and take care.
Ken
If you look up ballast controller chips and look at the datasheets you'll see the difference. The dimmable ones are quite a bit more complex, they use a somewhat different power supply design and they provide a separate voltage to keep the cathodes in the tube heated when the tube is dimmed. I have a few and they're mediocre, they're large and clunky and flicker if you dim them too far but they worked ok in the rec room in the last house I lived in. In the one light in my house that's on a dimmer now I use incandescent lamps, it's not on very much anyway.
That's the difference.
Use incandescents. 10 for a dollar at the dollar store. CFL's are fine for on off - a bad choice for dimming.
"NSM" bravely wrote to "All" (09 May 05 01:34:29) --- on the heady topic of "Re: dimmable cfl's ?"
NS> From: "NSM" NS> Xref: aeinews sci.electronics.repair:47659
NS> Use incandescents. 10 for a dollar at the dollar store. CFL's are fine NS> for on off - a bad choice for dimming.
BTW dollar store cfl's have appreciable QRM.
A*s*i*m*o*v
... []
I don't doubt it. They also don't like low temps and have a crappy phosphor - but what do you expect for a buck?
BTW, I just found 4 X DVD-Rs with full jewel case in my local store!
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