Will this timer work with CFL's without shortening their lifespan (leaking current when off)?
1991583
Sam, I use this timer for CFL's and just about anything that needs a timer Hid,Hps lights anything you want.I like this style of timer because it's easy to setup. You can you use the daylight saving feature where the timer will automatically change one hour for daylight saving time when you set the date for timer to change. I just skipped the feature when I set the timer up.I recommend this timer for ease of use and full of setting features.
1991584
I don't think so. Shortened life of any fluorescent lamp is due to the number of on and off cycles. Most CFL's are a ballast/lamp combo and are made in bulk lots. Lifespan testing is based on when a lot is energized and half go out. Assuming that the lamp you have will meet it's advertised lifespan is not good odds. If you are looking for energy savings this is not a reasonable ROI due to cost and reliability and it does not meet new Title 24 Standards or Title 20 listing.
522302
I'm not sure, as I haven't encountered the 'ghosting' phenomena. I have it in a ceiling fixture and it shuts off when I shut off the switch. I do have a CFL in a fixture wired to a timer. If I use the timer to shut if off it goes into a sort of strobe behavior for about 10 seconds or so. If I shut it off with a switch it shuts right off. I haven't tried the LED bulb in that fixture (I'm waiting for the CFL to burn out). It sounds as if the ghosting might have more to do with the switch than with the fixture (if you've got anything other than a simple switch on it).
1564952
I think it should, I have it working with both cfl and LEDs. No problem so far.
877865
It does work with LED bulbs but I am having a problem where my LED security lights (from Costco) keep burning out somehow in less than a month of use. I don't know yet if it's related to the switch or the security lights are just sub par but I didn't have this problem until I replaced my normal light switch with this timer switch. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe not.
1744602
Yes. The unit is just a switch. I use CFLs in outdoor lights controlled by this motion sensor and it works well.
1575927
I have energy saving cfl but the light blinks most if the time. Dimmer does not work well
1381711
Yes, I have 4 rooms with CFL bulbs no issues for 5 years, the slide switch is just for fan speed. Only had one switch burn out as mentioned by another poster.
1675756
I used mine on CFL's, and it shuts them completely off. I assume LED's would behave in the same manner. The prior switch I had did allow "bleed" and the CFL's flickered, this switch resolved that issue.
877863
I say for sure but my experience is the timer works the electrical side of it all and therefore the bulbs should work as long as the electricity is flowing..., the be short and simple..., YES it should work with any bulb
438192
all timing switches need to have a neutral connector to work with CFL and LED, otherwise your bulbs will flicker. I found out the hard way. It's because regular timers allow a small amount of electricity to go through to power the timer itself which causes issues with CFL/LED bulbs which expect zero electricity when off.But from other people's photo of the wiring, I see a neutral connector on the back so the answer is YES it will work without the flickering issues for all bulb types.
1220404
I am using it with a CFL, but not the 3-way kind, so I don't know if the latter would work.
2057130
Yes absolutely buddy. You can use a timer on anything... If it were a big high wattage light you would need a heavy duty timer... but as this is only 150 watts or less you should be fine with any timer.. just get a heavy duty though one. 12 bucks.. can not go wrong!
340252
These are standard spiral cfls. They are immediate on/off lights. I would have to say that they should probably work fine with a timer as I can't think of any reason that they would not. No, I haven't actually used them this way, but with my understanding of electricity and how it would work, I can't see any issues with it. The timer should do no more than open up the flow of electricity to the bulb when the timer turns on and then restricts the flow of electricity when the timer goes off, so there should be no issues with them whatsoever. I hope this helps.
781642
I don't see why not. It's basically an on-off switch. I'm using mine with a CFL with no problem (except I don't like the CFL's brightness or warm-up time). But the fixture works just fine in turning the lights on and off. I'm sure it will work equally well with an LED bulb (which is what I'm gong to do myself next time a bulb needs to be changed).
265581
Yes this will work, BUT you would need a 12v DC power supply to run the timer.
215803
This switch works with a fluorescent overhead light fixture that uses a balast (i.e. four ft fluorescent ceiling fixture in a garage or laundry room)I expect it will not work for CFL bulb that is not designed for use with dimmers.
260017
We have this timer on our front porch. Our lights on the front porch are CFL bulbs. The first timer we installed ended up not working very good, but we had another one. My husband installed it almost a year ago and it's working just fine. We set the time we want the light to come on and the time for the lights to turn out. Can't complain.