Dimmable compact flourescent

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Melchior

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Feb 4, 2006
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Cheap, and reliable.

Where can I get some?

Especially CFL with a Candelabra base, (Edison 12) which are resistor or PWM type dimmable.

The minamum lumen output I'd like is around 600. (a '13'W or '15' W CFL)

These seem to be VERY uncommon.
 
I'd be in line for some dimmable candelabra base CFLs as well, especially in a 5000K color temp. We have three chandeliers where we're pretty much stuck with incandescents because I haven't found viable replacements. Thankfully, we don't use them very often. Everything else has long been converted to fluorescent, mostly linear tubes with a few CFLs in table lamps.

I'm thinking we'll both probably have to wait a few years until LED replacements appear. Until then we're stuck with the incandescents. :(
 
Most of the CFL dimmable candelabra base ones I've seen are 3-5 watt cold cathode models, dimmer than what you're looking for, and they look pretty ugly (they have visible ballasts painted white with a frosted "flame tip") IMHO the way to do this right would be to have a chandelier with a separate ballast that could drive simple frosted CFL tubes (then it could at least have a uniform look similar to a frosted incan), but I don't believe such a product actually exists.

Also, a lot of what makes those look good, IMO, is the fact that they run clear bulbs which act like point sources. I bet by now though someone could make a chandelier based on something like Cree LEDs that could approximate that look, but not as a turnkey retrofit.
 
The one's with candlelabra bases are not very common but medium (regular sized) based ones are easier to find. Most of the dimmable one's I'm comming across now are CFL reflectors. My WalMart has R-30 CFL reflectors by Lights of America and GE.

I have the Lights of America but it's somewhat erratic when I tried it with a dimmer I had laying around (Rotary knob dimmer made by Lutron in 1993) so I don't actually use it with a dimmer currently. You have to turn the dimmer up to about the 30% mark to start the bulb and it's best to warm it up on 100% power otherwise it will look very pink. When you dim the light, it stays at about full brightness until you turn the dimmer down to about 80% where it will quickly drop to about that light output but it will continue to dim smoothly until you reach 25% where it will then drop suddenly to a very dim level and flicker a lot until you get to where the dimmer shuts off. I haven't tried or reviewed the GE one yet.

My other one is a Philips Earthlight Dimmable 20 watt (75 watt incandescent equivelent. I found them at BigLots for about 3.00$ each. With the same Lutron dimmer, they will start at about the 15% mark on the dimmer and ramp up and down very smoothly as if it was an incandescent. It takes about 15-20 seconds to reach full brightness when you first turn it on (crank the dimmer up all the way) but the color temperature once warmed up is very similar to an incandescent lamp. In a table lamp with the bulb hidden by the shade, it's hard to tell the difference. The only thing with dimming is that it gets pinker when you get down below 60% and at the lowest setting on my dimmer, it's still as bright as a 15 watt incandescent bulb while a 75 watt incandescant bulb I had wired in parallel for comparison only had a tiny, orange glow from the filiment.

My Home Depot used to have the Philips Dimmable CFL but they only now have the R-40 reflector version which is the same but has a reflector around the tubes. You could probably break that part off and use it as a "regular" bulb in a wall sconce or table lamp. The Philips bulbs are not the spirals that are popular now but rather three U shaped tubes next to each other comming out of a plastic base so they are longer than most spiral CFLs.

http://www.buylighting.com/20-Watt-Philips-Dimmable-Compact-Fluorescent-2800K-p/sls20-d.htm

I've also seen the Greenlite 23watt dimmable CFL on Smarthome.com but I haven't tried it yet. I do have some of their non-dimmable versions and they seem pretty close to the Philips CFLs in terms of color temperature and the way they start and warm up. Smarthome says they also work good with X-10 and other remote controllers for home automation. Another one I've heard of is a 26 watt model by GE but I haven't tried that one as well.

Greenlite Dimmable

EFI's selection of dimmable CFLs
 
I bought some of those lights of america dimmable 60 watt equivalent floods a years ago. I was excited to see a dimmable CF at a not outrageous price. I have since updated my buying habits to stay far away from that brand. They may have gotten better in the last year, but they lost be as a customer due to their horrible quality control. Cheap bulbs are cheap, but the cheap ones are even cheaper ;)

I also noticed that my local HD is starting to carry a wider selection. The dimmable candelabra bulbs are interesting, but not terribly useful. I like that we're seeing CCFL based bulbs as they are even more efficient but they are still at very low power levels. Whats the point of dimming a 15 watt equivalent bulb?! If I could have a 75 watt equivalent one then it would be useful to dim it, but if the max is 15 then you're not going to need much less ever. They are far too ugly for exposed use. I still bought 3 of them and they ended up in the sconces on either side of my garage.

The HD here is now carrying both a 60 and a 75 watt equivalent dimmable flood from phillips. The lights in the house that I like and that have lasted the longest are from Phillips and from Sylvania/osram. They are more expensive but they actually work unlike other brands mentioned above... I have the 75 watt model over my sink and I like it. It dims down quite a bit before going out and is decently bright when all the way on. But it's more expensive.
 
I would recommend not considering the Lights of America brand. Years ago I purchased some of this brand (original flicker and wait until it warms on clearance for $1-3 each) u tube type but none lasted more than a few weeks or a month due to fried ballasts.
 
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