Using compact fluorescent bulbs can save energy and can save you money on your electric bill.  However, you can’t just use a standard CFL with a dimmer light switch because the lifespan of the bulb would be cut very short negating any potential savings.  Also, the dimmablity isn’t possible because of the ballast, the portion of the bulb that sends electricity through the tube causing light.  The basic ballast in a regular CFL causes too much flickering for the light to be satisfactory.

Until somewhat recently that meant that all of your dimmable switches needed to have incandescent bulbs, but that is no longer the case.  There are now dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs!  Technology has improved the CFL ballast to a point where dimming a switch is possible.

These dimmer compatible CFL bulbs are more costly than standard CFL bulbs but watch for the technology to continue to improve and the prices to go down.  With increased awareness and availability as well as reliability the use of dimmable CFLs is increasing.  The color of luminosity radiated from dimmable CFLs is growing more and more similar to that of an incandescent bulb.  Dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs put out a decent amount of light and are not too harsh on the eyes.

As the technology improves dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs will continue to improve as well.