Can standard low energy bulbs work with dimmers?

thor

I know that you cannot use low energy light bulbs with dimmable switches but is this because they won't dim rather than not light up at all? I have a remote dimmer wall switch and was wondering if I could get away with fitting low energy bulbs and refraining from using the dimmer function. I am not too fussed about dimming as long as the bulb switched on and off safely.

thomas01155

My one cracked kept forgetting i wasn't meant to change the light setting :rolleyes:
Then i accidentally smashed it on the floor after taking it out:p

kitschkitty

These days you can buy the low energy bulbs that can be used with dimmers (I suspect they might cost a little bit more though).

savemoney

No you need Dors megaman bulbs, they are designed for dimmers

http://www.megamanuk.com/

What I did was changed dimmers to normal switches, (very easy thing to do) to take low energy candle bulbs, as it was just too expensive for me at the time

thor

Yeah they are costly. I actually changed my normal switch to this remote dimmer about 3 years ago so it would be no problem to change it back again. I only did it because I wanted the remote function(don't give a damn about dimming) and could not find a remote only light switch. Well there are still some conventional bulbs about so I suppose I can put off doing something about it for a while.

scheming_gypsy

thor wrote: »

Yeah they are costly. I actually changed my normal switch to this remote dimmer about 3 years ago so it would be no problem to change it back again. I only did it because I wanted the remote function(don't give a damn about dimming) and could not find a remote only light switch. Well there are still some conventional bulbs about so I suppose I can put off doing something about it for a while.

lol, i dunno... reptile owners are snapping them up as soon as they see them.

John_Gray

thor wrote: »

I have a remote dimmer wall switch and was wondering if I could get away with fitting low energy bulbs and refraining from using the dimmer function. I am not too fussed about dimming as long as the bulb switched on and off safely.

Simple answer is 'yes'. That's what I did for some months (with 2 x 5 low-energy candle bulbs in the living room) before having the dimmer switch module replaced by a non-dimming one by an electrician.

savemoney

Which would then not be a dimmer.

The thing is the choice of having dors can be a lot more of you choose to keep the dimmer around £10 a pop for a dors bulbs where as a low energy candle bulbs for arguments sake is around £6-£8 you can get cheaper bulbs but Megmana tend to be one of the best and look very much like the original incandescent bulbs in terms of size

If you add a electrician that would add a lot more. I am no electrician but I did replace a double dimmer for two rooms downstairs and two dimmers in bedrooms and its very easy to do, but always turn power off and double check everything and do your research prior just to be safe side

I now have 5xMegman candles 9w in living room and 3 in dining room plus two low nergy bulbs in bedrooms, 4xgu10 megaman for another bedroom and 2xR50 spots low energy in bathroom all megaman bulbs

John_Gray wrote: »

Simple answer is 'yes'. That's what I did for some months (with 2 x 5 low-energy candle bulbs in the living room) before having the dimmer switch module replaced by a non-dimming one by an electrician.

da_murphster

thor wrote: »

I know that you cannot use low energy light bulbs with dimmable switches but is this because they won't dim rather than not light up at all? I have a remote dimmer wall switch and was wondering if I could get away with fitting low energy bulbs and refraining from using the dimmer function. I am not too fussed about dimming as long as the bulb switched on and off safely.

What was your final solution on this??

I have exposed 'candle' bulbs and lots of them so changing to 11w (as high as the dimable candle bulbs go) is not really an option - esp at £10 a pop.

In another room I have a 'home cinema' set-up (sounds more glamorous than it is!) and the idea was to have the lights controlled by IR remote.

As you I don't need to dim - just on/off.

Annoyed as I spend a fortune on 'period' style dimmers - would just use normal bulds but they do drain alot of power (I have a usage monitor fixed up)

kwikbreaks

Halogen candles give a 30% saving and can be used with dimmers. They look very similar to tungsten candles too.

thor

I am still using normal light bulbs and have simply stocked up enough to last me for years(it is only for a one room, not the whole house). I did find some bulbs which were lower energy but still useable with dimmers(probably what Kwik suggested except shaped and sized as a normal standard bulb) but they were a bit more pricey so I have just stuck with the old technology and will do so until a)the stock runs out now that they are banned from being manufactured or b) someone invents a cheap low energy bulb.