Can You Dim Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Additional energy savings can be achieved by dimming but the electronic ballast required to control the lamp has a higher cost and is difficult to design.

Can you dim compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Shows you how he did it. A fluorescent lamp works much the way a neon tube does. Also look for black or other discoloration in the flickering bulb. It will lose 20 to 25 percent lumen power after 4 000 hours 40 percent of a cfl s 10 000 hour rated life.

Another reason you need more lumens is that a cfl will dim over time. This morning they were completely dark at first but are now very dim again. However it requires a dimming ballast which can be quite expensive and the amount of dimming is limited to about 20. Take a bulb from a fixture working properly and test it in the flickering fixture.

Dimmable cfl bulbs are available and they can be dimmed down to about 20 percent of full light output without problems. Yes compact fluorescent lamps can be dimmed. There are electrodes at each end that are heated in order to reduce the amount of strike current required to excite the gas in the tube. And what about an led light bulb or fixture.

The answer is yes. Our kitchen light which uses two 4 foot fluorescent light bulbs is very dim. I tried reading. We can say it is actually possible to dim fluorescent tubes but not without also saying that we highly discourage you to do so.

Is this a sign the ballast needs to be replaced. If you re thinking of using a. It is not recommended for your pocket time nor your expectations. Incandescent bulbs also lose lumens but the life of these bulbs is extremely short compared with that of cfls.

Since it started doing this one time it lit fully for about five or ten minutes. These bulbs come in packaging that states their compatibility with dimmers. Much like cfls make sure you check the led bulb packaging to be sure it is dimmable not all are. Fluorescent dimming how fluorescent fixtures work.

Eventually the bulb simply won t light. Often a failing fluorescent light bulb will begin to darken or even look black at one or both ends. While an led bulb is not the same technology as a cfl there are the same types of dimmer light bulb compatibility issues. It is not recommended that you use regular compact fluorescent bulbs with dimming switches since this can dramatically shorten the bulb life.

Both bulbs are very dim but evenly lit along their length and both the same as each other.