CFLs flicker when Wall Swtich WS467 is OFF

Jim Hewitt · 2008-03-05T20:43:33+00:00

Howdy,I've been slowlyg trying CFLs in the house to see if they work OK wtih our X10 installation. We've decided that the quality of light is acceptable for the energy $ savings.But, when I put some (N:Vision from Home Depot) 60W CFLs in the kids' room overehad light, controlled by a WS467, everything was fine until I turned the lights off. They don't go fully off! We get a very low light flicker, probably 5-10 times a second. I triple-checked, the wall switch was not dimming the lights.Is this a result of the current sense (for local control)? If so, would the standard mode for disabling current sense stop this?It is doubtful that the kids would sleep well with this annyong flicker, but also likely that it would also damage the CFL electronics eventually.Thank you for any input. Or for pointing me to a more appropriate group.Jim

Mar 05, 2008 22 Replies

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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

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