Customer Reviews

Feit Electric 15W R30 CFL Dimmable Floodlight Bulb (65W)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Pros of the dimmable CFL technology:
- Use 75% less energy compared to similar incandescent lights

Pros of this specific brand:
- Price

Cons of the dimmable CFL technology:
- Take about a minute to "warm up" to full brightness
- Don't have the same dimmable range of incandescent lights

Cons of this specific brand:
- Noise at all brightness levels
- Noise increases at dimmed levels
- Dimmable range is considerably smaller than other brands I have used (they simply shut off when given power levels less than ~30%)
- More susceptible to voltage dips (dips cause the lights to turn off and they don't come back on until given more power first)
- I had a significant issue with 1 out of the 12 bulbs I ordered


This brand costs significantly less than other brands, however, it also does not perform as well. The lights suffer from a lot of noise at dimmed levels and even some noise at 100% power, but nothing that isn't easily drowned out by a TV at low volume levels. Other brands are much more dimmable and don't make noise. At very low power levels these lights will shut off or some even flash on and off. The lights when dimmed greater than 50% are also susceptible to voltage dips caused by major appliances kicking in (dishwasher, dryer, furnace, AC kick on). The voltage dips cause the lights to go out but not come back on. The voltage dip issue doesn't happen nearly as much with other more expensive brands.

I ordered 12 bulbs. 1 out of 12 of the bulbs ordered won't dim below 75% without going out with the rest being able to handle a 40%-50% dim level but not any lower.

Bottom line: CFL light bulbs save big on energy costs. These lights are inexpensive and you get what you pay for. They don't dim that low and they're a little noisy in comparison to more expensive dimmable CFLs. I find the bulbs to be adequate and like them as a much more affordable alternative to more expensive brands. Happy but not WOWed!

I've yet to run across a CFL bulb that dims well, including these, regardless of special dimmers. I tried a new premium $30 dimmer and got no better results with these bulbs than with my 14 year old standard dimmer. They dim maybe 30-40%. That seems to be common for most dimmable CFL bulbs.

The bulbs are quiet and bright for the wattage (720 lumens at 15W) when on full. I actually chose these for several locations in the house because they come on brighter and warm-up to full brightness faster than the several others I'd tried. Dimming was not as an important issue, so I kept them. They get 4 stars because in all other ways they work better than other CFLs I've tried.

I do not know how are other dimmable fluorescent bulbs, but I hated these. Out of the pack, rule of thumb, one instantly stops working. Luckily I bought two of the sets. Shortly after a few weeks they began flickering. Once it flickers so long, it typically turns off or goes back to ok if you turn a dimmer up. Either way, the dimming technology on here is not advanced at all, so it is a shame, but I had to go back to not very energy efficient bulbs again.

I JUST installed a brand new, top-of-the-line $30 Lumitron Diva 3-way dimmer switch, because I read that dimmable CFLs don't work with the older switches. Well these CFLs don't dim, not one bit. As such, they are way overprived, because they don't serve the purpose we bought them for! I am 100% dissatisfied with this product and woulf NOT recommend them to anyone.

If you are looking for a replacement for incandescent lights on a dimmer, this is not the choice. I will say it is the best I have tried so far. With an incandescent the dimming range is a full 0 to 100 percent. With this, the dimmest it will go is about 30% of the full brightness and then it shuts off completely. I look for an LED dimmable replacement to come out.

Cheap bulb. 2 out of 9 failed, 1 simply non-functional and the second "flutters". They humm. And... to top it off, they sort of dim, those that work. Overall, piece of junk.

I would't buy these bulbs again. One of them burt out after only 24 hours; the other two work, but claiming these to be "dimmable" isn't accurate.

I have replaced all the bulbs in my house with either CFL or LED bulbs. The kitchen has 5 recessed spotlights, so I bought 6 of these dimmable CFLs to put in there. Had I known what these were like (I should have read the other reviews more carefully!) I would have simply bought the non-dimmable CFL's. These bulbs are basically NON-DIMMABLE, they dim from 100% to about 80% bright, then they flicker. They also buzz quite loudly with any dimming. The technology simply isn't there yet, so I imagine that they sell these to take advantage of guys like me who want to make everything energy-efficient. Another option that I might do in the future is to buy the dimmable LED bulbs, even though the shape is not the spotlight shape. So, save your money and wait until they make these types of bulbs work better.

Bought this bulb to start replacing standard bulbs in a room with 8 can lights. The room gets hot with all the lights on after a while. I thought buying these would help both heat and energy cost. I put one in and tried the dimmer. It did dim some but no where near like the others, it's brighter light looked very out of place. Also it turned off completely when dimmed low. Now I read the package and it says not to leave dimmed, and other such statments. I bought the bulb to... well..... dim. I really wanted to like these bulbs. Very sad about that, maybe I'll try again in a few years.

These work great never any issue with a bulb not working. The only problem and its with all these types of bulbs... They take a some time too reach full power.. They do last a long time and the dimming feature is great if you have dimmer switches they really do dim well. Because of the lag time reaching full output only 4 stars!