Low Energy Home Lighting - What are the rules??

[Dave Huck]

I'm away from home for extended periods and I run a few lights on timers to make the house look occupied. I was looking at GE low energy bulbs (both the globe style and mini-fluorescent tube types) the other day and they specifically state that the bulbs shouldn't be used for sensor applications (which I can understand) OR for timers.

Can anybody help me out on this? The store had own brand equivalents which didn't carry the same warning, but I don't want to do something which may cause problems. If GE say not to do it I assume there must be a reason....

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers

Dave

[snakebite]

thats mostly cya.
they are fine on mech timers or ones that use a relay or triac.
dimmers may kill some cfl's
most just blink/flicker.

[James S]

snake bite has the right of it, some of the more modern timers use an SCR type device to turn it on and off. You need a mechanical switch, click/clack like the old timers with the adjustable pins, or one with a relay.

In most cases CF bulbs operate just fine on an SCR type switch, but sometimes the combination of bulb brand/ballast and the distorted wave form from the switch will cause the bulb to flicker, or worst case severely overheat and be a fire hazard. You do not want to put in a new brand of bulb into one of these and just walk away without testing it to see what will happen. I operate on the principal that if I test them in front of me for an hour and they turn on and off fine (check that as the ballasts can confuse the switch if it has local sense for manual use) then it will be OK. But I could be wrong. I have definitely seen some brands that will burn out and possibly UP on these. So test it out until you're satisfied that you can leave them unattended for long periods of time.

[Dave Huck]

Thanks guys,

the timers I'm using are push pin mechanical jobbies so I guess this is OK, but I'll run a test for a few hours next weekend just to make sure.

Cheers

Dave

[spock]

dave huck, just changed my outside garage lights to cfl. lowes sells an optical sensor(regent 4500)for about $10 that works with fluorescent bulbs. it is easy to install with only 3 wires. they have no flicker. the reason ge doesn't want to recommend sensor use, is that most sensors are made for incandescent bulbs. these 2 wire units need a small current going thru the bulb to work. they don't want you putting a cfl in that type of light. it won't work and may damage the cfl.

[eluminator]

They aremaking dimmable fluorescents now days that can use a standard light dimmer. My sister has a dimmable floor lamp that has a GE 2d fluorescent, and I also see dimmable CFL on the internet.