Dimming Fluorescent
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 T8 Fluorescent Dimming Sleeve Tubeguard NEW $11.50 Time Remaining: 25d 15h 25m Buy It Now for only: $11.50 |
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 Lutron GRX FDBI 16A 120 fluorescent dimming balast $50.00 Time Remaining: 26d 9h 34m Buy It Now for only: $50.00 |
Dimming Fluorescent
Fluorescent Bulbs Need Outside Help To Light Up
Although these light fittings work on a completely different system to the tungsten bulbs that we are all used to, many of us do not even understand how these light fittings actually work. Indeed, tell anyone about T8 ballast or replacement ballast and they are likely to have a quizzical look on their face for sure.
What these gadgets do is to control the flow of voltage through the tube itself. Inside the tube is a gas vapor, mercury, which needs some electricity to ignite it. Too much power though and the thing will break so the gadget is used to control the flow of power. Once the gas is ignited, the phosphorescent covering starts to glow giving off a bright and clean light which people tend to like. If anyone has every turned off one of these lights they should be able to detect the afterglow of the whole process.
The electronic varieties will have a better way of igniting the gas since it uses a lag effect. The older versions of the gadgets would ignite the gas on the half cycle of power. That means a constant turning on and off of the light. What this does is to make the lights flicker and this is an anathema to most people who are sensitive to the flickering.
Indeed, some people are so sensitive that they cannot work where fluorescents are in situ. Even shops have had to change their systems somewhat when people would get sick if they were in the store for some time. The more modern method is to have two such bulbs attached to one gadget. One would be ignited by the first half cycle and the other lit by the other half cycle. This then means that the flickering is not as noticeable and people complained less when they were in the vicinity.
These modern gadgets also have another trick that they perform too. Some are equipped with sensors so that it dims when no one is in the room. This is very economical for factories or places where shifts work in rotation but where large areas are not in use for some of the time. Indeed, these lights take more power starting up than being left on permanently so leaving them on is not as wasteful as it may seem.
This has been reworked too so that householders can use the same energy-saving systems at home. The low energy bulbs are very similar to fluorescents but have been coiled around to make them usable for lamps and such. Although tubes are suitable for bathrooms and kitchens, they do not look so good in a living room setting. However, since most people now prefer them over the tungsten varieties, they are becoming cheaper to buy too. Some countries are even phasing out the old tungsten bulbs since they recognize the need to save the world resources.
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Can fluorescent bulbs be used in fixtures with dimmer controls?
I've been replacing incandescent bulbs with these new fluorescent ones but skipped a light with a dimmer control as I'm not sure they'll function properly, maybe even damage the bulb?
You were right to skip the on e with the dimmer. compact fluorescent tubes of the screw-in / bayonet fixing which replaces a regualr bulb do NOT work with dimmers.
A regualr "long tube" type flourescent CAN be made to work with a special; dimmer - but the gear tray needs to be modified - you cannot simply use a normal dimmer. Dimmable flourescent lights have been around for a long time BUT the control gear is a lot more epxensive than regular gear.
Mark
Dimmable Fluorescent Light