2007-11-07 07:32:04 · 8 answers · asked by jon b 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
YES YOU CAN! but you need to have a fixyure with a dimming ballast in it. and a fluorescent dimmer. both available at your local electrical supply house. Lutron is the major brand of dimming ballasts and controls. this is not a cheap thing to do. the dimmers are atleast $40 and the dimming ballasts start at $65. here is a link to the lutron site.
http://www.lutron.com/CMS/CMSSystem_entry.aspx?appid=1015&id=7452
2007-11-07 07:50:27 · answer #1 · answered by my3rdbaseebay 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What an idea, dimmers cut part of the sine wave off, this way they create a dimming effect in incandescent light bulbs or resistance loads.
With fluorescent lights you may experience a flickering effect, because of the missing part of the sine wave.
A dimming effect can only be achieved to a certain level in fluorescent lights until they go out, by lowering the voltage, although modern ballasts would compensate for this eliminating the dimming effect altogether. I'd simply turn the lights off and use a wax candle.
This almost sounds like another idea from the Green Giant from Tennessee.
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2007-11-07 15:27:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The simple answer is no but as usual there are exceptions like the previous answer there are low energy lamps now available which will dim with a standard dimmer, also with the correct control gear it is possible to dim flourescent tubes very expensive though.
2007-11-07 07:46:47 · answer #3 · answered by rapid 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. Flourescent bulbs work with gas, not metal elements. You cannot reduce the voltage on them. I have heard, but not yet seen, that they are making new CFL's (compact flourescent lights) that can be used with a dimmer. Not sure how that works though.
2007-11-07 07:40:05 · answer #4 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes you can like My3rdbas stated. You might want to check with Home Depot, Menard's, Lowes, Etc. They should have the proper ballast and dimmer switch. Will be cheaper then ordering it.
2007-11-07 08:15:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, it's already on a lower voltage. Dimmer switches decrease the voltage to lower the brightness in incandescent (regular) bulbs. ;-)
2007-11-07 07:35:17 · answer #6 · answered by Tony 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No you can't. Unless you change the ballast.
Check this out.
http://www.goodmart.com/products/dimmable_fluorescent_ballasts.htm
2007-11-07 14:54:52 · answer #7 · answered by John himself 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, however it will not dimm down or up. light will turn on or off only as soon as the right resistance is reached.
2007-11-07 07:39:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋