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[stevem]

Hi there,

These chaps www.varilight.co.uk have recently released a dimmable CFL which really does dim using a conventional thyristor dimmer-switch.  I have one of these now and have tried it with an X10 lamp module and it works; it really does actually dim! It doesn't buzz or get warm or anything worse either!  It's not completely perfect and I've tried only one, but it's the first I've heard of such a CFL in the UK/EU which doesn't turn out to be a very misleading claim.  (We have switch-dimmable ones and since you can just about turn them from off to full-brightness using a dimmer switch and set dim level very clumsily, they are often called "dimmer compatible").  They'd need to adjust it slightly for the differences in AC voltage and frequency, but I can't imagine that they've designed it so that's difficult.   I haven't found anyone doing this yet in the US, so I thought it might be interesting for you guys too...

Cheers, Steve

[steven r]

Thanks for the info!

Just to get an idea, how do they compare in price to standard non-dimable CFL

[Dan Lawrence]

Only problem is the OP's link is to a UK site, so the dimmable CFLs they are offering are for the UK and won't fit or work on North American (US/Canada) electric systems.

[Walt2]

I was reading about a dimmable CFL ceiling fixture, that was suppose to be compatible with regular wall switch dimmers.  They even listed a Smarthome module as being tested and works.

The odd problem is that the fixture requires a "full" hot and a "dim" hot (and of course neutral).  They didn't get into technical details, but I am assuming that it draws most of its power from the "full" hot, and the "dim" hot coming from the dimmer is really just used as a reference voltage.

[stevem]

Thanks for the info!

Just to get an idea, how do they compare in price to standard non-dimable CFL

They seem to cost two - three times as much right now...

[NickJ]

Pure Spectrum dimmable CFL's work great with X10 lamp modules.  They come on instantly and have a 2700K color temperature which is very close to an incandescent and recent offerings on both Amazon and eBay are in the $3.50 to $4 range which is about half of what most dimmables cost.  I use them even where I don't need dimming.  Pure Spectrum has a number of patents on dimmable ballasts and I really like their bulbs.  They offer a 20 watt bulb with 75W equivalent light output.  I put them in about 20 lamps where I was forced to use incandescents due to being switched with X10 lamp modules and they work great.  I will recover their cost in 2 months in power savings and after than save about $40/month.  You can't beat that!