Hi,
Most Halogen lamps can be dimmed using standard dimmers but while standard halogen lamps are more efficient than traditional incandescent they have nowhere near the efficiency of CFL.
Systems for dimming fluorescent lamps have been available for many years but these are special purpose systems. Manufacturers are working on creating CFLs that work with standard dimmers but I think that there will always be limitations with this due to the way CFLs work.
Manufacturers are also releasing
even more efficient halogen bulbs that have up to 30% better efficiency than traditional bulbs rather than the 6-10% that halogen has traditionally delivered.
I think that you need to consider your lighting needs in the various areas of your home and put the appropriate bulbs in place.
For example a kitchen would probably benefit from CFLs as the lights may be on for a long period of time and it probably isn't necessary to be able to dim the lights - perhaps some low wattage under cabinet lights could provide low level lighting when the main lights weren't required.
A formal dining room may need dimming for atmosphere but is used only for a few hours every month - in which case the actual energy use of halogen or conventional bulbs is probably negligible.
In my living room I have a halogen downlights which provide a lot of light (but use approximately 200W) for when we need it but most evenings we use two table lamps and a floor lamp with 6W CFLs - because the CFLs are low wattage we don't need to dim them anyway.
One thing to be careful of when choosing switches and is that many dimmers have a leakage current even when they are off. This current isn't enough to cause a incandescent or halogen bulb to light but may cause CFLs to flicker, so you should always use a relay rather than a dimmer if you have non-dimmable CFL bulbs.
Paul
