Dimmer for household LED lamps...

[generator12]

I've been replacing the incandescent lamps around the house bit by bit with LED's. The problem is that the old dimmers don't seem to handle the light load well. (No pun intended..!) They blink and wink and don't hold a setting for very long, particularly on low brightness settings. I even tried mixing an incandescent bulb in to increase the load a bit, but no luck.

Has anyone discovered a dimmer brand/type that operates without this annoying fluctuation?

 

[alldodge]

Are you getting LED's that are labeled "dimmable"?

 

[dingbat]

Lots of them on the market.

Lowe’s and Home Depot carry a pretty large selection

 

[wahlejim]

The bulb needs to be labeled as dimmable AND the dimmer itself should be labeled as compatible with LED bulbs. Not all of them are. Test with a dimmable bulb then address the switch if needed.

My house was built in 2002 and I had to replace all of my switches and bulbs in my LED conversion. I bought mine online because I did not like the color of the LEDs in big box stores. I preferred the more yellow color than the bright white or even bluish hue of the others.

 

[generator12]

Yes, I'm buying dimmable LED's.

Yes, I've seen the selections in the big box stores, but on-line reviews have not yet pointed me to any of them that actually avoid the problem I've described here. Lots of comments regarding flickering and erratic operation on those I've researched. That's why I came on here asking if anyone has hard experience with them. Right now I've compiled a list of comments from web reviews in which certain dimmers are paired with certain LED's because they don't work with others.

I agree with the thought about yellow light versus white or blue. I would rather not have to buy and try to identify one (or more) that work properly if I can avoid that.

It's frustrating. I'm a step or two from simply going back to incandescent's until the industry gets its act together.

 

[alldodge]

I've had a couple of my high priced led's go bad and start the flickering when dimmed. Have even bought the cheap new bulbs and they would flicker. The ones that have give me most trouble are the 50 watt halogen pendent light replacements.

Dimmers in the house where installed by me before led's came about

 

[sangerwaker]

The issue is there is no standard for manufacturing LED lamps. The dimmers now have standards for manufacturers. Most LED rated dimmers have a low end trim setting to adjust the lowest setting the dimmer will allow a lamp to be dimmed to as some lamps start to flicker or just shut off at the low end of their dimming range. Some lamps simply dim to a lower level than others.

Even if a lamp or dimmer manufacturer provides a compatibility list, there are no guarantees in the LED dimming world. It is unfortunately trial and error sometimes to find a combination that works to your satisfaction. Some LED lamps work fine on an incandescent dimmer, but may experience flicker on the bottom end of the dimming range as there is no adjustment for this on an incandescent dimmer.

We deal with this every day at work. .

 

[dingbat]

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Educatio...ingBasics.aspx
http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/CL Dimmer Sell Sheet.pdf

 

[sam am I]

http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocum...ary/048360.pdf

Perhaps these newer Lutron dimmer's are CCR types are more compatible with the "dimmable " LED's internal constant current drivers? More of an "analog" variant seems to reduce flickering.

Don't think manu's however are disclosing the which of circuit designs they use per-se however, PWM's I believe are the oldest technique of the two types, so perhaps purchasing new dimmer will by default have the CCR designs.

Sorry I don't have "hard" experience with any particulars to share, I don't dim any of my LED's except my GE kitchen hood LED's flicker on low (dimmed) setting so I just bought different manu's LED, seemed to help BUT they still flicker a tiny bit. I just run it on high usually. Think the hood uses PWM.

 

[generator12]

Thanks guys. Looks like we're a year or three early on this issue. Trial and error appears to be all there is..!

 

[alldodge]

To expand on the initial issue and the differences which may or may not be apparent, and I'm sure I missed something, so fill in the gaps smart dudes/dudettes. I'm looking at the files attached

A dimmable led has components which has current is reduced, adjust on/off of the led

A Lurton dimmer shows (at least to me) that it is adjusting the on/off cycle so a non-dimmable led is needed

 

[generator12]

Tried a Lutron in one location. Improved but still some flickering. Guess I'll have to await improved technology to solve the issue. Otherwise the LED's are all right.

 

[Bob_VT]

Yeah I had to change a dimmer on my "dimmable" LEDs - tha dimmer is not a give-a-way either. BUT, bottom line is the wife is happy That's all that matters.

Happy Thanksgiving.