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I have a new lamp which I like a lot, it has a touch sensor. However, the CFLs don't seem to fit. I don't care so much about the dimmer feature but I have never heard of a CFL that does this either.

Do they have thinner base bulbs?

BTW, the light in the garage is holding up fine. However, I don't think my garage is as cold as some of you are talking about probably.

--des

Try one of the decorative candelabra bulbs. I haven't tried any in a touch lamp, but your not supposed to use them with a dimmer switch unless it is rated for it.

I use a 3-way 50-100-150 CFL in one of my lamps... which I had to *slightly* modify as the CFL is like 2x as tall as a incandescent.

I think the 3-way bulb is what you need.

I use a 3-way 50-100-150 CFL in one of my lamps... which I had to *slightly* modify as the CFL is like 2x as tall as a incandescent.

I think the 3-way bulb is what you need.

I wouldn't need the 3-way unless they are thinner at the base.
How did you modify? I think the height wouldn't be an issue as the lamp is quite wide. The bulb's base is the issue, I think. The CFLs I have are just too fat.

--des

Here are a couple of dimmable CFL's:
http://www.energyfederation.org/smartliving/default.php/cPath/2050_25_44_169

On the left side of this page are a number of tabs for different kinds of bulbs:
http://www.energyfederation.org/smartliving/default.php/cPath/2050_25_44_171_955

CFL's come in a variety of shapes.

If the problem is the size of the threaded part at the very base, then you may need a candelabra base? Candelabra base CFL's are available at:
http://www.eartheasy.com/shop/lighting_cfl.html

Or maybe LED's?

If the problem is that the bulb just above the base is too fat for the lamp you have, there are CFL's that have nearly the same bulb shape as incandescent if you can find them and if they have enough wattage for your needs. The other option is to go to a lamp shop, lamp shade shop, or a good hardware store and get a different harp for the lamp. That's the metal thing that supports the lamp shade. They just clip in. I had to do this for some of my lamps because the CFL's were either taller or wider than the bulbs they were replacing.

The candleabra base at Sam's Club come with a standard socket adapter to screw on.

Just want to say that modern CFLs are awesome, they look great, save money and help purify the environment and I use them in every light bulb socket in my home. Including the refridgerator, oven, outside,

... oh, still need to replace the attic bulb. Crap. ;)

btw, dont even TRY to dim a standard cfl. i swapped a cfl for an incandescent lamp while the circuit was still on. no problem. forgot the switch was a dimmer switch. when i turned it off (not instant-off, just a very fast dim-to-off) the new cfl went poof! smoke and everything!

and now back to your actual topic...

I found about a 2% infant mortality rate in cfl's compared to incandescents on a large scale test.
They are like everything else and have bugs!

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/292/bugcw5.gif

btw, dont even TRY to dim a standard cfl. i swapped a cfl for an incandescent lamp while the circuit was still on. no problem. forgot the switch was a dimmer switch. when i turned it off (not instant-off, just a very fast dim-to-off) the new cfl went poof! smoke and everything!

and now back to your actual topic...

With this lamp, the dim doesn't even work. It just goes off again. No boom or anything. (Mythbuster in training :-))

--des

i put a CFL in a touch lamp, it was a 3 way touch lamp and a 3 way CFL

I think that the bulb fried the touch sensor, now the only way to turn it off is to unplug it, and its always on high (still a lot less energy being used compared to an incandescent on low) (I suppose I'll just add a switch to the lamp so I can leave it plugged in)

so you might think twice about putting it in a lamp with a touch sensor

I've had some of the same problems...we have a couple of dimmers, as well as some lampshades that mount on the bulb itself, and the energy saver bulbs just don't pass muster in those. As a result, only about half of our lighting's been switched over to them...and we're a little disappointed in the energy savings, too.

The energy savings is probably not noticeable on the average person's bill.

But the upside is at least you don't have to change light bulbs as often.

I noticed this morning that when I discharge static (you know, the buildup you get on dry winter days from walking across carpet) into my metal desk lamp the CFL flickers. Neat trick.

(I know, you can power any fluorescent tube this way, but I thought it was fun nonetheless).

The energy savings are noticeable... you just have to put things in perspective. The more you do to reduce your energy use, the more noticeable the CFL's will be. Right now there isn't a single applicance plugged in. The washing machine, dryer, refridgerator, oven, etc.... everything is unplugged. I just flip the breaker for the washer/dryer when I need to do laundry and they get flipped back off.

Actually I noticed a very noticeable difference when I unplugged the fridge. So basically the only things I have pluged in or on for the most part is the computer and lights.

My power bill this month was only $27... and I have a 1,500 square foot house. The switch to CFL's might not be huge to me since I'm really diligent about turning off the lights when I leave a room, or opening the blinds and doing without lights. I guess it all really depends on how often you use the lights if you will see a difference.

$27?! That's amazing. I thought we were doing well with a $120 bill in a 2800sf house...our neighbor wins the power wars though, because he built his house into the side of a hill. He always loved to take the afternoon off of work saying he had to go mow his lawn :D

granted I have Gas heat... so that number might be a little misleading. My gas bill this month was $70. During the summer is usually in the low teens.

Edit: Just went through my spreadsheet. My average electric bill for this year was $33.08 and average Gas bill was $46.53
Last years my average electric bill was $53.01 and average gas bill was $46.26

To be fair I didn't use my A/C this summer and I did last summer. Also, this years cold months were colder on average plus the gas company increased the cost of natural gas. Next year should be intresting... I've changed some things I do and I should see a decent drop in my gas bill.

Holy crap $27, I have gas heat too, and mine is more like $80 for 1800 sqft. Of Course i've got 6 computes on, and all kinds of other networking gear and other devices. I've got to get more of my insteon stuff installed so my wife will stop leaving the lights on.

Unplugging all my applicances when they are not in use made a big difference. The fridge was the big one... I just buy all my food fresh or stuff that doesn't require refridgeration.

Obviously that is a step that 99% of the population will not do, but like everything I do, I take it to the extreme ;)

I just can't wait till I build my new house. Its going to be completely green.

Yeah I could never get my wife to go for no fridge.

I finally changed over the rest of my bulbs over to CFL's... so I'll go two or three months to get an average to see if there is any improvement over my average this year.

I could see some CFLs giving a dimmer fits. The little power
supply in the base of a CFL works like a computer switching
supply, and the first thing that does is rectify the AC from
the wall directly and send it to a filter cap. While that cap
is still not charged yet, the circuit looks like almost a dead
short for a very small time. The first cycle from a small triac
dimmer will be into that load, and it may not be able to handle
the inrush and poof goes your device. As you saw with the touch
lamp, they usually fail shorted [aka on].
.
Better units will have series thermistors and/or other power
factor correction, and the dimmable ones have either the option
of simply being able to run on lower overall voltage or actually
read the chopped waveform coming in and figure out exactly how
bright the lamp needs to be from that. Hopefully there's a
nice [read: cheap] compromise way to handle dimming in a
reasonable way that all the makers will eventually adopt, and
then either the problem of which are dimmable or not will go
away or we'll start coming up with different ways to dim lights
to begin with [i.e. the traditional triac phase-chopper will
begin going extinct and your wall dimmer will be some kind of
data commander to the light].
.
_H*