One of my customers called me the other day her dual dimming switch (top) for her lighted paddle fan stopped working. I stopped by and took a look and you could see the dimmer switch was slightly melted. So I went to the supply house and got a new dimmer at $42.00 since it was special dual dimmer compared to standard dimmer (bottom ) and put the new dimmer in and notice the fan works fine but the lights do not dim?
I take one of the bulbs out and instantly know what the problem is. The bulb is a Compact Fluorescent Bulb CFL made to look like an incandescent bulb and 99% of the compact fluorescent bulbs can not be used with dimmers in fact it can lead to a fire if continued to be used constantly this also goes for regular straight florescent bulbs as well which require a special dimmer.
If you have a dimmer switch you must buy a fluorescent CFL which can be dimmed and it must be compatible with the dimmer you are using. Of course they cost 2-3 times what a regular CFL runs as well.
But if you want to dim a fluorescent the dimmer and bulb much be matched properly or you risk a fire. So needless to say my customer had a discussion with here husband when he got home because he has put the CFL bulbs all over the house to save money.
So your saying to your self should they not warn on the dimmer or bulb package not to use fluorescent bulbs? Well some do some do not and the ones that do the writing is very small and hard to read.
So once again a perfect storm caused by energy saving devices with packaging not well thought out. to warn against a fire danger. but then again what do you expect from manufacturers overseas.
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