Re: CFLs flicker when Wall Swtich WS467 is OFF

[Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:12:15 -0400, Marc_F_Hult
<MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:01:10 -0400, "Robert Green"
><ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
><iK6dnSxWmJjpKH_anZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@xxxxxxx>:
>
>>I don't dim much either, but it would be nice to be able to.  My
>>experience is that the dimmable CFLs do dim, but the dimming curve is
>>quite unlike an equivalent tungsten bulb.
>
>My experience also. There are several effects that make the dimming of a
>CFL a different experience from dimming a typical incandescent lamp.
>
>In my mind, there are at least three different 'regimes' in the dimming
>effect of an incandescent lamp:
>
>	1) A range near maximum output in which the output diminishes,
>	   but the change in color temperature is minimal
>
>	2) A greatly dimmed range in which the increased warmth (decrease
>   	   in color temperature) is part-and-parcel of the 'dimming'
>           effect
>
>	3) a range near extinction in which the apparent illumination
>	   of distant objects may be negligible depending in large part
>	   on the status of our eyes' dark adaptation, but the lamp
>	   filament produce a candle-like effect and provides a local
>	   "point of light" which may be all that is needed or desired for
>some purposes.
>
>(I suspect that there are technical terms for these phenomena of which I
>am ignorant (for now ;-)
>
>By and large, dimming of CFLs don't have these 'regimes' so the actual
>decrease in light output _seems_ less. Quantitative comparisons with a
>light meter are illuminating (pun intended).
>
>These effects are one of the reasons why LED lighting is becoming more
>exciting with each incremental technological advance. The use of Red Green
>Blue (RGB) arrays, sometimes controlled as in the entertainment lighting
>arena by DMX512  (DMX-512 ; DMX-512a) make it possible to control color
>temperature and illumination level _independently_.
>
>In our kitchen we have both ceiling cans (which can be either/and
>incandescent and CFLs, and dimmed, 12VDC MR26 lamps which can be either
>LED Halogen incandescent. I 'spect that in the not too distant future I'll
>be experimenting with RGB LEDs in that location.
>
>Maybe with something like akin to this remote-controlled 5watt RGB Full
>Color Mr26 LED Spotlight
>
>http://eliteenterprises.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/100445376/5w_
>RGB_Full_Color_Mr26_LED_Spotlight.html
>
>... Marc
>
>Visit my ongoing Home Automation and Electronics Internet Porch Sale at
>www.ECOntrol.org/porch_sale.htm
>
>Marc_F_Hult
>www.ECOntrol.org

Years ago (in my disco days ;-) I dimmed neon by cycle skipping (on
the line side of the transformer.

I wonder if that would work with CFL's?

                                        ...Jim Thompson
--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
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