GE 21710 15 Watt (65W equivalent) Energy Smart Floodlight Dimmable R30 Light Bulb
by GE
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of GE 21710 15 Watt (65W equivalent) Energy Smart Floodlight Dimmable R30 Light Bulb
Customer Review: Doesn't dim well in our fixtures
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a big proponent of CFLs, so when we bought a house with nineteen recessed ceiling fixtures on dimmers, I immediately looked for lamps for them. I ordered two of these bulbs to try them.
Unfortunately, they do not work well in our fixtures. Perhaps it is the type of dimmer switches we have, but they will not dim much. They go from full brightness to maybe 75% of that light level. The incandescent lamps in the adjacent fixtures, meanwhile, go down to a faint yellowish glimmer.
Clearly these lamps will not work in all dimmable fixtures. You may want to order just one and see.
Customer Review: unacceptable delay and warmup time
Summary: 1 Stars
I have reviewed this bulb for a similar listing on Amazon, but my basic points are as follows:
I am a huge fan of CFLs. We use them all over our house. You should, too. There is really no reason to go incandescent anymore. You may actually be better off throwing out your incandescents BEFORE they burn out, and replacing them with CFLs. CFLs work equivalently to incandescents; you just have to know what to look for: low color temperature (on the order of 2700K), a bulb to match the application. Two years ago, after burning multiple incandescents out in our garage door opener, I installed CFLs. They are sturdy enough to withstand the vibrations and have been going strong for a couple of years.
This bulb is unacceptable. It has the drawbacks of CFLs that I bought in the mid-90s: a delay when you switch them on, and a long warmup period (some reviewers say that it is 1 minute; it took my bulb 2-3 minutes. These are the qualities that made it hard for me to convert my wife and my parents to CFLs.
I would recommend trying different brands of dimmables until you find one that is compatible with your dimmers and doesn't have any significant drawbacks. i can't believe that GE let this bulb hit the market with such a switching delay and long warmup time. Reminds me of the disappointment I felt with the early generation CFLs, but I believe that these dimmable bulbs will eventually get the rough spots ironed out.
Customer Review: hey don't dim! Back to the drawing board, GE
Summary: 1 Stars
I have dimmable recessed lighting in three main rooms facing north and west that are almost always light, even during daytime. So CFLs could make a major dent in our electricity bill, and ease the need to change bulbs in hard-to-reach locations. Dimming is critical in all locations.
Tested on _all_ dimmers in our home - including two new ones - this bulb did not dim whatsoever. I tried leaving it on for a while, but the bulb ran a apparent full capacity even when all the incandescent R30s are barely lit. Moving the dimmer has a binary effect on this bulb - just on or off.
One slight pro with this bulb is that unlike other CFLs, I've noticed that this one is at full brightness right away.
Customer Review: Hardly Dimmable, Short Life
Summary: 1 Stars
Hoping to save some money on electricity, I bought a couple of these GE Dimmable CFL bulbs for our kitchen.
When the light comes on, it isn't as bright as regular flood light bulbs, and with our dimmer, it doesn't dim and brighten properly either. I figured I could deal with it, since we have a dimmer, and the regular CFL flood bulbs aren't for use with dimmers. Unfortunately, my bulb lasted LESS THAN ONE MONTH. Are you kidding me? I have never had a bulb die that quickly! And, at more than ten dollars a bulb? Not saving any money there.
I have contacted GE Lighting to report this problem, but I certainly can't recommend investing your money in these bulbs at this time.
Customer Review: Get Regular rather Dimmable Compact Florescent Bulbs
Summary: 1 Stars
Dimmable CFLs only dim about 20% (Sylvania 10%, Philips 20%, GE20%) so don't buy expecting them to dim like incandescent bulbs. Also the way they dim is by producing harmonic distortion (changing the waveform to one where less light is produced) which can cause flickering and even without noticable flickering possibly even headaches or eye strain in some people. So go with the nondimmable CFLs instead.