Two of the most heavily used lights in our house are the R30 Recessed Bulbs that sit just above our dinner table. It’s the first light that I turn on when I come home and usually the one that stays on the longest. A couple of years ago my wife and I installed dimmers around the house to create a more moody feel throughout the house. Right now we have two 65W equiv 40W actual Halogenas in and we like them very much.
It seems like since that time we have been looking for energy efficient bulbs that have good dimming quality. Unless you want to spend a bunch of money on LED Lightbulbs, CFLs are pretty much your best bet in terms of efficiency. Unfortunately, any Dimmable CFL that I’ve tried has numerous quality problems. Last week we were at costco and picked up a 3-pack of 15W (65W Light) R30 Dimming Bulbs for $19.99. I was very pleased with the price because the ones at Home Depot were $13/piece.
These lights really are terrible. The light quality is inconsistent, one bulb was bright white while another was soft. They take forever to warm up and show full brightness. They don’t dim very well at all, the lowest dim is maybe 50% of full light, which doesn’t give you the ability set any sort of ambiance. Also, when brought down to lowest dim, some of them flicker out and will not restart.
I am taking these back to the store today and returning them. $20 bucks is a lot of money in a recession. So the quest continues for good quality dimming CFLs. If anyone has experience with some great ones, let me know, I am still searching.
Here is the video review.
RATING: 1 out of 5 Gears for Variable Eco Benefit
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I too came across these lights at Costco in NJ recently and decided to try them, buying two packages in order to get the 4 I needed. I’m an eco minded guy and have been looking for just such a light for my recessed lights in my living room.
I agree with MrGreenGear that the quality of these lights is to be desired. My problem was that between the six bulbs in the two packages, one bulb had a noticeable scratch on the lens. Another bulb had a small shard of glass inside (still worked) and the another had what appeared to be a small piece of cardboard or something in the bulb. Regardless of these defects all of the bulbs did work. I noticed the same issues that MrGreenGear did, that they take time to get to full brightness (about 30 seconds). Also if you try to dim them from a cold start they will flicker or not restart right away. I’m using a simple Lutron switch with a sliding dimmer control.
These issues however seem to be a function of the fact that they are CFLs which by nature need time to “warm up”. Comparing them to incandescent lights is not really appropriate. Also once they warm up they seem to dim quite well. Not as good as say a incandescent light but good enough. I suggest trying them at home for oneself. Costco is great about taking things back. Until the perfect dimmable light comes out, these will do for me. MrGreenGear, let me know if you find the holy grail!
Oh, I will ben. I’m on the hunt for the perfect dimming CFL. A lot of CFLs require time to warm up but I’ve encountered a few that are instant on… there has to be a way to combine these two features!
Thanks for stopping by ben!
When reviewing brightness and dimming levels, disable or turn off the auto exposure on your camera, because the camera changes its f-stop setting when the light level changes.
I have had the same problems with dimmables, but I have some more hope recently.
There is a company called, Litetronics, that has a product line called “Micro-Brite”. This is a CCFL (cold Cathode CFL). I have purchased a standard bulb with a part number of MB-801DP. It uses 8 watts and produces 325 lumens (40 lumens/watt, so not that great). But the dimmability seems to be excellent. I plan on taking some data on this soon. It is supposed to dim down to 5% of full brightness.
The bad news is that the current products are somewhat dim (40W equivalent maximum). However, they come in a nice range of shapes including candle shapes that might be nice for some users.
Anyway, if you are interested in reviewing them, let me know. Perhaps we can work together on it.
Thanks
John C. Briggs