How does a CL dimmer differ from a Standard Dimmer?

Electrically, how does a CL Dimmer differ from a standard dimmer that uses a triac?

A standard dimmer prevents conduction for the beginning part of each half of the power cycle, resluting in less average power.

What does a CL Dimmer do, instead?

What will be the result of feeding a dimmable LED bulb with a standard dimmer?

Brian,
Our C•L dimmers are triac based dimmers as well, however they utilize our HED(high efficency dimming) technology which allows for better control and compatibility of LEDs. Here is a Post explaining the advantages of using our C•L dimmer over a standard dimmer.

I recently upgraded to LED lights in our kitchen and they also installed a new Maestro CL dimmer. I have a Radio RA system that was purchased in 2003. Is there any way to purchase a CL dimmer that is compatible with the old Radio RA system?

There is not a CL dimmer for the RadioRA Classic system. However you can use our LED product selection tool at www.Lutron.com/ledtool. Under the Lutron control option you can select the RadioRA dimmer and perform a search. This will give you a list of LED bulbs that are compatible with dimmers that are available for your system.

That's a great idea, Craig. www.lutron.com/ledtool is a great way to find compatible bulbs. Because it is an older system, there may not be many results or the LEDs that are on the list may be older and discontinued. You can also use a RA-6ND and a PHPM-PA. Under the Lutron Control option, you would select PHPM Interface and click search. The list of approved bulbs will appear at the bottom of the page.