2-pk GE R30 Dimmable CFL Compact Fluorescent
- R30 Dimmable CFL
- 720 Lumens
- 65 watt equivalent (15 watt actual)
- 6000 hour bulbs
- Save up to $60/package
Product Description
These dimmable 65 watt equivalent R30 CFL flood lights are useful in recessed lighting fixtures, particularly in overhead areas such as your kitchen where you don't want extra heat bearing down on your head.
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2-pk GE R30 Dimmable CFL Compact Fluorescent
- Publisher: General Electric
- Label: General Electric
- Studio: General Electric
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 3 reviews
- Sales Rank in Tools: #93483
Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: For a dimmable CFL, as good as it gets right now 2008-10-26
Comment: The good: They will start on an electronic "soft start" dimmer, such as a ZWave, X10 or Maestro unit. MOST DIMMABLE CFLS WILL NOT. However - if you try to start them "ramped full", they may freak out your dimmer and cause it to cycle on and off a few times, which isn't so good. If you start them at ~50% or less this doesn't happen. Note that MOST other "dimmable CFLs" will NOT start reliably AT ALL on a low setting, with an electronic dimmer, and some will cycle the dimmer incessantly with the electronics thinking it is shorted or open. The GEs are the ONLY CFL dimmables I've found that (mostly) work ok. Note thay many other brands interact VERY BADLY with one another if you have one (or more) fail to start on a circuit - gee, you think most rooms have more than one on a circuit? In particular "1000bulbs" sells a brand (unknown actual brand) that is called "most reliable dimmable CFL" - don't believe it for a second. Those are ok in non-dimmable applications, but they're absolutely unsuitable for anything in a dimmable application, in my view.
The bad: The dimmable range isn't as wide as I'd like as 20% output is about the minimum. If you try to turn them down too far they will go out instead. They do not reliably start on an ELECTRONIC dimmer at full power and in some cases will interact badly with the dimmer switch - this is especially troublesome on the Leviton Vizia-RF (Zwave) switches. But - other CFL dimmables do the same thing - or worse. These WILL start reliably (and not freak out the switch) at low to moderate levels (e.g. 20%, 50%, etc)
I have tried a half-dozen different brands of CFLs, and have over $200 worth of another manufacturers that are WORTHLESS for the above reasons.
The GEs aren't perfect, but they work and for the most part don't interact badly with dimmers. I really, really hate the fact that nobody has bothered to make a TRULY COMPATABLE CFL that will not interact badly with electronic dimmers, will reliably start and run at low output levels, and yet provides the energy savings of CFLs. I do NOT like my lighting on "full blast" as I find most household lighting to be radically overlit for 99% of circumstances. Yes, I want it "hospital bright" when cleaning, but not the rest of the time!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good light with far less energy 2008-09-19
Comment: I've been gradually replacing the floods in my house with these in most of the rooms. It's true that they take 30 seconds or so to achieve full brightness but, except in locations like stairways or closets where it's actually annoying or dangerous, it isn't much of a drawback. You'll notice it at first if you aren't accustomed to them, then it's hardly an issue.
The other minor drawback is that they don't dim as much as incandescents but, for me, they dim enough to change the atmosphere which is all I want of them.
On the up side, they use about a quarter the energy of incandescent bulbs and last far longer. I've installed perhaps a dozen as my old bulbs burn out. They're all worked well out of the box and are still working.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Poor example of CFL, barely dimmable 2008-06-09
Comment: I've used CFL's for four years in several homes and these GE bulbs are some of the worst I've tried. These "flood" lights start out more like a trickle--after a long and erratic delay in starting at all. The two end spirals don't even illuminate at first, instead casting a shadow. Initial luminosity is probably 50% at best. After a minute or two they are finally fully illuminated. The only place these are fit to be used is in a location where the bulb is always on. They also fail as dimmables, because they do not turn down very much (in fact, no more than a standard GE CFL flood--although the standard one will flicker and whine when turned down.)
So the bulbs have three strikes against them: 1. Slow to actually turn on compared to other CFL's 2. Starting very dim taking a long time to reach normal brightness 3. Insufficient dimming characteristics. My recommendation is to avoid these and other GE CFL's, the GE's are the poorest examples of CFL's I've tested so far.
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2-pk GE R30 Dimmable CFL Compact Fluorescent
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