I'm in the process of replacing incandescent light bulbs with the compact fluorescent bulbs in non x-10 applications. I now would like to include a CFL using an X-10 device. Can I control one 27 watt fluorescent bulb with regular two pin plug in appliance module? Also, what will be my options when the fluorescents that look like regular bulbs are dimmable? Thanks in advance, Tim fm CT
You can. *BUT* unless you get into the module and disable local current sensing (used for local control) you will have "bleed through flicker".
It's a very dim flicker. I'm using one for my doorbell annunciator in a lamp with an off-white shade and I can't see the flicker with all other lights off.
It may reduce the life of the CFL. I've only had mine on the appliance module for about 6 months so I don't know about that yet.
I don't have a clue. Haven't tried dimmable CFLs yet.
Gerald
You can try Globe-Electric CFLs. I am using them in several spots and have not had to make the modifications to the appliance modules. They also offer a 'dimmable CFL' that works with Lamp modules, although it is still a little pricey.
One thing I have noticed though, is that when I have cfl equipped fixture turned on the bulbs cause interference with the rest of my x10 modules. they do not respond to on off commands, as soon as I replaced the cfl bulbs with regular incandescent, the problem went away, Is mine an isolated case?
See the discussion here:
It's not an isolated case. There have been an increasing number of reports of CFL noise blocking X-10 and Insteon communication. You can add a filter but that substantially changes the economics (already iffy IMO) of using CFLs.
If you don't do the calculations, you can still have opinions, however iffy, but they don't have much 'transfer value' (euphemistically speaking).
See the thread that Jeff Volp cites:
I also have CFL's in the basement of new (not 10-year-old CFL's or El Cheapos) and INSTEON works flawlessly. Time to get out the scope again, this time to look for something that may not be there. There is no reason why CFL's _have_ to put excess line noise on the powerline.
As with the issues of hum, color rendition, and premature failure, years of work have made for better CFL's.
... Marc Marc_F_Hult
I'd like to thank of you for your cfl x10 infiormormation. I did not realize the short life of cfl bulbs. ( read that link that was indicated) I'm still tempted to try them in the higher watt situations. 27 watts is heck of a difference vs 100 watts. Unfortunately mine are base up installations. I am going to try the Phillips r40 cfl marathon classics in our kitchen...\\ Thanks again, Tim fm CT
No one has said CFLs _have_ to be noisy but many people have posted here and in Smarthome's Insteon forum reporting that their CFLs _are_ noisy.
No one has said that CFLs _have_ to have high premature failure rates but 30 years of experience shows this to be an ongoing issue.
Having majored in economics and having run a multimillion dollar international company, my calculations reinforce my opinion that market economics will reward the low cost producer. Noisy, short-lived CFLs probably cost less to produce than quiet, long-lived CFLs.
27W vs. 100W is a big difference but it depends on how many hours per day you'll leave them on, on your electric rates, on how long they last and on whether you need to add the cost of a filter to the equation.The Department of Energy has figures on electricity end uses at...
Another DOE page shows that residential use accounts for about 1/3 of US electricity use.
If you replace _ALL_ residential lights with CFLs that use 1/3 as much electricity, you reduce total electric use by less than 2% (while adding mercury to our landfills). It's not practical to use all CFLs so the total effect will be much less than 1%.
And electricity represents only a fraction of our total energy use (~30%) so the reduction in greenhouse gasses attributable to the use of residential CFLs is nearly unmeasurable and certainly inconsequential as regards global warming.
The people pushing CFLs with slogans like "Change a light bulb, change the world." are CFIs. (Determining the meaning of "CFI" is left as a reader exercise.)
A quick glance at the tables in the first DOE link I gave above will reveal several residential energy uses that make much better targets. (Replacing 35 year old refrigerators might be a good place to start.)
And, if you have a quart of s>I'd like to thank of you for your cfl x10 infiormormation. I did not
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