Remote Living > Lighting

Three stage lightbulbs.

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juiced:
Is it just me or are the lightbulbs for lights with a thre-stage switch cheap, unreliable and totally wasteful?

Dan M:
If you always set them on the brightest setting, then it seems like a waste.
If you actually use the lower settings, then it makes much more sense than a dimmer switch.
(I think, since I believe a dimmer is just a resistor in the circuit that trades light for waste heat but doesn't actually save any energy.  someone please correct me if I'm mistaken)
Get compact florescents (sp?) and your consumption is far lower than the dimmest setting with more light than the middle setting.
-Dan M

Opera House:
The resistor is the light bulb in a three way lamp.  For example, there is 40W and a 60W filiment.  That gives you 40W, 60W and 100W(when both filiments are operated together).  Operating a lamp at full voltage is always more efficient than reducing the voltage with a dimmer.  That produces a higher % of heat compared to light.  Problem is when one section burns out, what can you do with it.

prodael:
For the dimmer:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/dimmer-switch.htm
Which reminds me, I don't know which kind of dimmer switch it is, but I can turn down my dimmer about halfway and not see any effect on my fluorescent bulb lights. Would this be using less electricity if I used a dimmer in this manner? Can it affects the life of the bulb?

wooferhound:
Using a lighting dimmer on an Inductive load, such as a fluorescent ballast or a power transformer, will over heat them and eventually burn them up.
 It won't hurt the bulb though . . .

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