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A New Reason to Switch to Energy-Efficient Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

by on October 06, 2010
in Health and Home, News, Home Improvement, Lighting, Money Savers, Green Tech :: 4 comments

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Lutron Diva/CL wall dimmerLutron Credenza CL lamp dimmerThere are two main reasons why people don’t switch from regular incandescent bulbs to energy-saving compact fluorescents: light color quality and erratic dimming. The color issue has been largely resolved with warm-toned bulbs (look for a Kelvin rating between 2700-3000K) and now Lutron has introduced new dimmers designed to resolve common dimming issues, the Diva/CL wall dimmer ($40) and Credenza/CL plug-in lamp dimmer ($15).

The problems arise when you use a dimmable compact fluorescent or LED bulb with a dimmer made for incandescent bulbs. Sometimes bulbs will turn off before the slider reaches the bottom. Or after being dimmed to a low light level and switched off, sometimes bulbs will not turn on until the dimmer’s slider is moved up. And whereas incandescent bulbs may dim or flicker when an extra small appliance overtaxes your home's electric grid, a CFL or LED bulb can actually turn off or flicker excessively when dimmed to a low light level.

The new Diva/CL and Credenza/CL dimmers dimmers use Lutron’s HED Technology, whose advanced dimming circuitry is designed to combat these problems. And, both dimmers are UL listed to work with a broad range of dimmable CFL and LED light bulbs, as well as with halogens and incandescents.

The new models will be available this fall at select home improvement centers and LutronStore.com.


Discussion loading

Looks interesting - I will

From Home Power Saver on October 06, 2010 :: 7:50 pm

Looks interesting - I will be interested to hear how people like it.  Hopefully anyone that learned about it here can post back with results after they buy it.

Reply

COLOR TEMP OF FLUORESCENT LAMPS

From scott on May 02, 2011 :: 2:08 pm

SUZANNE—THE CORRECT WORD IS “KELVIN”, not KALVIN.

Reply

Sorry, the dollars don't add up

From Paul on January 06, 2014 :: 3:52 pm

$40 for a dimmer switch? Are you insane?

The CFLs I have bought have been CRAP. Burned out way before they should have, ugly color, etc etc. The new ones are not much better. LED’s are great if you can find one that fits your fixture properly, they are not all plug and play.

And I saw zero difference in my electric bill, even though the majority of the house is now cfl or led. Compared to heat, a/c, and appliance use this is just insignificant. And the hassles are not worth it.

Bring back real bulbs!

Reply

Getting better

From Josh Kirschner on January 06, 2014 :: 7:23 pm

The dimmer is down to $25 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DZOMKC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=techlicious-20

The products are definitely improving, but agree they’re not perfect substitutes (sometimes far from perfect). We will likely have a story soon that delves into the cost equation in more detail.

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