You are correct when you say that crop of ‘dimmable’ CFLs on the market are less than compatible with available dimmers. The lighting controls companies that you mention (Lutron, etc.) have a vested interest in not catering to the needs of the CFL market and their disinterest in advancing their own technology is hurting the consumer, limiting the consumer’s options when it comes to lightbulb choice. The ‘big three’ lighting companies (GE, Sylvania, and Phillips) are just as guilty. The margins on Incandescent bulbs are much higher than those on CFLs, and in the interests of corporate profits these companies are slow to innovate beyond the bare minimum mandated by governments and the media. The myriad consumer complaints about CFLs (light color, start-up time, dimmability, etc.) all stem from these companies’ unwillingness to really invest in technology that in helping preserve global energy resources may negatively impact their bottom line.

To my main point: There are companies who are working to change this paradigm, who have created and are working to create technologies that meet consumer needs. There are the TCPs of the world who make 1.4 million CFLs a day and are leading the way toward CFL adoption. There are also small companies, like a company called PureSpectrum, who have invented CFL dimmers and fully dimmable CFLs. People are making dimmable CFLs that work, you just have to look for them.

see http://www.purespectrumlighting.com for their press releases on dimmable CFLs

Always ahead of the curve, MaxLite™ has created a unique procedure to control the amount of liquid mercury in its compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). In its burner production, MaxLite™ accuracy is achieved by the utilization of a sealed tool akin to a medical injection tube. This permits defined quantities of liquid mercury to enter it each time the fluid is drawn. Then the identical amount of liquid mercury is infused into the burner. One amalgam dice is placed into the mercury control of the amalgam lamps. The amount of mercury is also fixed as the amalgam dice’s weight is controlled by amalgam manufacturers.

The low mercury quantity is the least amount MaxLiteâ„¢ deems feasible for a compact fluorescent lamp to maintain a long and productive life.

Dimmers are a great way of saving energy! There is alot of dimming info on the web (check lutron.com/energy) and not only do you get engery and CO2 savings, but you get the option of setting the light level as you desire. CFLs can not be dimmed, even though some claim they can. The problem is the way dimmers work. In simple terms, dimmers shut your lights on and off around 120 times a second. What we preceive as dimming is actually the dimmer keeping your lights off longer in that on-off cycle. The dimmer the lights, the longer your lights are off, the more electricity you save, and the longer your bulb lasts ( potentially greater than 20x its normal switched life) The problem with CFLs is that the balast inside the bulb is also controling when the lamp is fired (using electricity) and that will always conflict with dimmers. One CFL manufacturer actually said they can be dimmed using a reastat dimmer. These things have been unavailable since the 70s when solid state dimming was coming of age (again check lutron who invented solid state dimming).

Ok, so no dimming them. Another problem is installing these bulbs in down fixtures. The heat generated by the bulb with rise through the base where the ballast is located and shorten the life of that bulb significantly. Having to replace a CFL every 6-10 months is not a great way to cut your lighting costs. So now we have to replace all our downward facing fixtures with flourescent fixtures with externally mounted balasts. Should i keep going?

Ok so you know that painting or picture we have lit with the sweet looking track fixture? well now we have use flourescent lamps… how do we aim the beam of light on the picture? You can’t (yet)! flourescent lights distribute light throughout the whole survace of the lamp. They can’t focus light like incandescent or some LED lamps can. I could go on and on but i will stop it here.

There simply is not enough research being done by these law-makers to justify the termination of incandescent lamps. I am 100% for cutting green house gases and lighting is a huge component of that, but i am also expecting these law-makers to do their homework before jumping to a quick solution!

http://LED.section9tech.com