Table of Contents
Trailing edge dimmers work best with LED light bulbs and leading-edge dimmers work best with traditional incandescent and halogen light bulbs.
Do LED lights need special dimmers?
A standard dimmer switch cannot be used with an LED light as you will never be able to dim the LED light either completely or not very well. LED lights need their own special electronic dimmer switch to have a fully functioning and dimming light.
How do I know if my dimmer switch is LED compatible?
The best way to see if your current dimmer is LED compatible is to check the minimum and maximum load range of the switch itself.
What kind of dimmer do I need for LED lights?
Generally speaking, you will be looking for either 600 watt max load or 1000 watt. When choosing dimmers for dimmable LEDs or CFLs, you should not load a dimmer higher than approximately 25% of the rated load for the dimmer.
Why do my LED lights flicker on a dimmer switch?
LED bulb flickering can be traced in almost every instance to a non-compatible dimmer switch in the lighting circuit. LED bulbs don’t have glowing filaments. When the dimmer switch goes off and on many times per second, the LED bulb becomes a flickering strobe light.
Are LED dimmers different?
You’re probably going to notice some variance in how your LEDs dim versus how traditional bulbs tend to. The main difference is that you have a smaller dimming range (typically 70-90% range vs. A dimmer for LED lights is specially designed to send power and control signals to each type of electronic LED driver.
Can you use an LED dimmer switch with normal bulbs?
The type of dimmer switch and it’s minimum/maximum load range will indicate the compatibility with LED light bulbs. Trailing edge dimmers work best with LED light bulbs and leading-edge dimmers work best with traditional incandescent and halogen light bulbs.
Why are LED bulbs not dimmable?
Damage or failure – LED driver, circuit or LED is damaged or fails. Load below minimum – The power load of the LED lamp is below the minimum required by the dimmer. Mixed models- Different models of LED will likely have different drivers – since drivers behave differently this could result in dimming issues.
Can you put a dimmer switch on any light?
A dimmer switch can be installed anywhere that an existing on or off switch is in place. Replacing the current toggle switch with a dimmer switch will allow you to change the lights’ brightness, so long as you are using a light bulb that is compatible with the dimmer you have chosen.
Can you use non-dimmable LED bulbs with a dimmer switch?
These switches have variable resistors which enable it to change the intensity of the light. A dimmer switch can only support LEDs, CFLs and other lights that are made up of advanced technology and have a dimming feature. It is that a non-dimmable electrical light should never be used with dimmer switches.
What is the difference between leading edge and trailing edge dimmers?
These two types of phase cutting dimmer get their names from the part of the AC wave that they cut off. Leading edge dimming cuts of the front edge of each waves’ half cycle. Conversely trailing edge dimming cuts out the second half of each waves’ half cycle.
What kind of bulbs can be used with dimmer switches?
Incandescent and Halogen light bulbs work well with dimmer switches. However, due to many advances in lighting technology, CFLs and LEDs are catching up and do a good job, the same as incandescent light bulbs do. When getting bulbs for dimming, be sure that it’s compatible with your switches.
Do dimmable LED lights flicker?
The main cause of flickering with dimmable LED light can usually be traced back to the dimmer switch. That’s why it’s important that you get a compatible LED dimmer switch to avoid any potential flickering. The quality of the dimmer switch you install will also have a bearing on the performance of your lights.
How do I stop my LED bulbs from flickering?
Another thing that commonly causes flickering in LED bulbs is loose connections or circuits. This is easy to fix. Just screw the LED bulb in tighter to see of that fixes the problem. If there’s a lot of dust in the fixture, first blow out the connection points to remove the dust before putting the bulb back in.
What happens when you dim a non dimmable LED?
So what happens if you use non-dimmable LEDs on a dimmer? Well, at best the bulb just won’t dim properly. But non-dimmable LEDs are only designed to be either fully powered ON or OFF, which means the circuitry inside won’t be able to handle low or pulsing current levels and will eventually become damaged.
Do dimmable LED bulbs work in 3 way?
No. 3-way bulbs have three separate contacts to allow a three-way switch to power different incandescent filaments, to switch powers between three levels. Dimmable means that you can use a dimmer switch (replacement for a regular wall switch) to adjust the light intensity gradually across a wide range.
What dimmer switch do I need?
Choose a dimmer with a wattage rating that meets or exceeds the total wattage of all the light bulbs the dimmer will control. For example, if the dimmer controls a fixture with ten 75-watt bulbs, you need a dimmer rated for 750 watts or higher.
