Dimmable CFL Work w/ HA20C Dimming Wall Switch?

[JoeK]

Has anyone tried the Intermatic HA20C dimming wall switch with dimmable compact fluorescent lighting bulbs?

Thanks,
Joe K.

[ljkibler]

I've tried both the 65 and 100 model of GE CFL that walmart is now carrying. Both dimmable. Typical poor dimming abilility with each bulb. A few dim steps before turning off.

Overall this is the downside I feel to the eventuall inevitable adoption of CFLs around the world and the US now thanks to the energy bill passed recently. CFLs just cant seem to be dimmed with electronic dimmers.

But I'll keep looking for a dimmable CFL that works as well as my incadescents.

[kjcjr]

ha20c

Hello
Are you indicating that the HA20c will work with CFL? Other posts identify that without a neutral connection CFL will not work. Good news if it does.

[TeleFragger]

Hello
Are you indicating that the HA20c will work with CFL? Other posts identify that without a neutral connection CFL will not work. Good news if it does.

herd that.. if so im gonna start replacing my 23890w togglelincs with them.. gonna try and order one a month... starting next month as i have a few other things to buy this month

[virtualadam]

I want to purchase dimmable switches for the whole house but none of them seem to be rated for CF?

So what are the options? Is the expectation that CF bulbs will adapt to work better with existing incandescent dimmers, or that new CF dimmers will be produced? Trying to decide if I should wait or not before making a purchase.

I tried an HA06C dimmer on a "dimmable CF" and the results were not good...

[Wadenut]

With few exceptions, CFL's are NOT designed to be dimmed. Even those that are proported to be so designed are not meant for use with electronic dimmers.
Try putting a dimmer on your TV set and see what happens.

[wpiman]

With few exceptions, CFL's are NOT designed to be dimmed. Even those that are proported to be so designed are not meant for use with electronic dimmers.
Try putting a dimmer on your TV set and see what happens.

You owe me a new TV.

[Wadenut]

Aw crap. I should have known someone would try it

Just look at this people. Dimming CFL's just isn't a good idea. At best, it voids any warranty. At worst it's dangerous.
http://energystar.custhelp.com/cgi-b...37&p_topview=1

[virtualadam]

With few exceptions, CFL's are NOT designed to be dimmed. Even those that are proported to be so designed are not meant for use with electronic dimmers.
Try putting a dimmer on your TV set and see what happens.

Well with incandescent being phased out shortly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_o...nt_light_bulbs), I wonder if manufacturers will stop selling incandescent dimmable switches, or continue to sell the same incandescent models with the expectation that bulb dimmer technology will get better over time and take care of the issue (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=631&campaign=480). In which case its worth buying the standard incandescent dimmers, and wait for bulbs to get better...

[lhfarm]

Well with incandescent being phased out shortly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_o...nt_light_bulbs), I wonder if manufacturers will stop selling incandescent dimmable switches, or continue to sell the same incandescent models with the expectation that bulb dimmer technology will get better over time and take care of the issue (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=631&campaign=480). In which case its worth buying the standard incandescent dimmers, and wait for bulbs to get better...

I had this conversation a few days ago - http://forums.homeseer.com/showthrea...ghlight=lhfarm. I didn't come away with a good feeling about possible outcomes. I'm creating my own stockpile of incandescent spots.

Barry

[Wadenut]

That's likely the best way to avoid problems, for the near future at any rate.

[virtualadam]

Just realized that some of the Z-wave incandescent dimmers seem to have a minimum wattage rating (i.e. HA14WD is 40 watts). So this would seem to imply that even if you wanted to use them on dimmable CF bulbs you'd need to use bulbs of at least 40 Watts, which is equivalent to around a 150 Watt incandescent (http://www.gelighting.com/na/busines...aqs/cfl.htm#10