Dimmers and LED bulbs

[henene4]

Dimming on the switch side to a different LED bulb is going to be tricky.
So is getting good CRI and color out of an LED.

I personally have Philips Hue - which is a very expensive system for lighting, not gonna lie - but dimming goes from very low to very high with no flicker and perfect color rendering.
Just that that's all done via their app.

Back home, we had very good experience with the normal Philips and Osram LEDs.
We don't have dimming there though.
The IKEA LED bulbs are very good as well.

A typical high quality dimmer should work with any high quality bulb that says it's dimmable.
All a "dimmable" LED bulb should in effect do is be a LED bulb that can run on a variable effective voltage AND monitor the input voltage and PWM the output accordingly.

Given though there is a lot of "in theory" there, going with high quality bulbs and high quality switches is really the best advice there.
There can and will always be weird quirks you can't really foresee.
That's really the biggest downside to LED lighting: Dimming and the compatibility there.
Next down the line is production and disposal impacts, followed third by high upfront costs.

 

[combo52]

Dimmers on incandescent lightbulbs

Post number 19, no one is doubting that incandescent lightbulbs last almost forever on dimmers it’s because 90% of the energy you’re paying for is just turned into heat that’s your choice.

Also chandelier bulbs, and such such as the one I pictured when they had incandescent bulbs I never had a failure in 25 years, that’s not the issue.

The issue is the huge amount of energy they use and the fact that the new LED bulbs actually have a better color, hue and dim ability than the incandescent bulbs did.

John

 

[good-shepherd]

buy 2700K led bulbs, no blueish light here.

"The main problem with LEDs comprises two aspects: First, they emit excessive amounts of blue wavelengths, which are embedded in other wavelengths and therefore invisible to the naked eye."

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/01/joseph-mercola/top-3-dangers-of-led-lights/

 

[henene4]

That article is very much dubious.

Claiming that any visible light creates free radicals is bogus science.
Light CAN split oxygen molecules into single oxygen and thus create free radicals and ozone.

However, the wavelengths that do that are FAR past blue into UV C.
If your LEDs produce ANY UV you DEFINITELY have the wrong lighting.

Blue light being more or less dangerous is also very much debated in science.
Sunlight is a continuous spectrum light source AND significantly brighter than basically any other common artificial light source in our lives.

If blue light was that dangerous, sunlight would have had that effect since - well ever.

That's why there is more and more doubt put towards "screens bad cause blue light" and more towards "screens bad cause other reasons".

And ANY LED light source can produce ANY wavelength, basically.
Creating blue peak wave lengths is just more efficient, cheaper and simpler.
You can very much create the spectrum you want IF you are willing to take that challenge up.

This whole LED debate sounds so much like all the "new things bad" discourses that existed since basically ever.

There were people who screamed about children no longer being abled to use chalk tablets for writing without making a mess back 150 years.

Sure, there are bad LEDs out there.
But come on...

 

[givemehotwater]

My main problem is...

The fact that this current administration forced a change on Americans. I have always believed that the free market determines the winners and the losers. Most of the cost-conscious Americans had already transitioned to a newer form of Lighting Technology like CFL, or LED.

Some people like myself continued to use a mix of Both. There was nothing wrong with that. I did not need a Nanny State to tell me to move on over and stop using something that was perfectly functional.

And I personally, just do not believe we should be telling people what to do in their own homes. That's how I've felt from day one about a lot of things.

I feel the same about my Whirlpool-Manufactured Top Loader from the 2000s. I plan to keep the thing running until my death and replace every part of it if I have to. So far, it's been incredibly reliable. Critics would argue it wastes water however it works well.

Getting back on topic. No - LEDs most certainly do not dim as well as old Incandescents or Halogen Bulbs. They never will. They can only hope to mimic, but it will never be perfect.

Even the best LED Lighting can not give you a perfect CRI, as someone else pointed out. The best they can offer is 94-95%. Most are in the 80% Range. It's not the same, and you can see it in Reds, and Blues.

Lifespan has never really been an issue for me, ever, until I started using CFL and LED Bulbs. Mostly, the LED Bulbs have been an issue. I have thrown out, at least 20 of the damn hunks of plastic over the years. Incandescents typically would last about two years in a Lamp for me, so... going from that to 2 or 3 months has been a major downside.

Not to mention - expensive. Since I like to buy the quality ones. I would feel differently if I had purchased them at a Dollar or Convenience Store.

Truly speaking. The only real "advantage" to LED and CFL lighting, is the option of Daylight Lighting, or other Colors. That's about it.

I wish we as consumers had a buffet of options, to pick what we wanted.

 

[combo52]

Sorry

Myself, and the great majority of Americans want this planet, to survive for the next generations, and we have the right to force energy saving, and just like with anything dangerous, it will be decided by a collective majority of people.

But you have the right to do anything you want in your house, and waste your money anyway, you like. Nobody will ever stop you from that.

John

 

[mattl]

The fact that this current administration forced a change on

.... Americans. I have always believed that the free market determines the winners and the losers"

 

While you are at it, rip out your airbags and snip your seat belts too, they are gvt. mandated.  Also drink your water directly from any river or stream near you, don't need gvt. mandating clean water.

 

With all the problems in the world LEDs are the least of the problems. Don't like them? Don't use them - problem solved. I'm sure you can find incandescents on ebay for the foreseeable future.

 

[ea56]

Bravo Matt

Eddie

 

[givemehotwater]

Bravo?

The terms that come to my mind aren't quite the same. Arrogant, Classless, Even a bit of a Proselytizer.

But then again, I'm not exactly the type to get all worked up and enthusiastic about the concept of a Washing Machine using No Water or a Dishwasher that doesn't do its job. I guess some are more sheepish than others.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well the need for dimming your llights and lamps shouldn't have to cease or change just because of the types of bulbs use...

I have white LED's in my laundry room that I wasn't even aware of them being ones that give off a fluorescent light hue but they do, and surprisingly my dryer light in my new dryer gives off a yellowy glow as in using a regular incandescent 10w appliance bulb, maybe because of it being a Maytag, and likely a similar situation in a Whirlpool, Amanda, GE and the rest of their ilk, as opposed if I were to get a Samsung, LG, or something that's one of those brands shooting a dot from the front of the drum to the back perhaps illuminating it a tad better than I think my Maytag does, that makes me miss the old Kenmore that had its bulb along the side of the drum opening which I thought lit it up better, and even took that bulb out of in the event it can be used in my present one when that one burns out..

My old bedroom at the house I grew up in had those square incandescent recessed fixtures only to be replaced by white fluorescent panels I strongly disliked due to it not being a warm, relaxing glow and the amount of light from TWO of those being starkingky being excessive but luckily got some hooks to brace into the ceiling tiles for one bedroom-friendly hanging lamp that I'd had being my sole light source like before, save for those recessed fixtures having the glass lenses taking out and operated with a pull-chain socket in (two fixtures) each one, giving me light and justvthe right adequate amount if, when and what needed...

Now my chandelier in my dining area is the sole fixture in the house I live in controlled by a dimmer, and despite it being up there over a decade and the bulbs being on full-blast even unattended under, not one has yet burned out, so I'll then take whatever replacement as it comes...

Oh, where's that gal we had here with all those old incandescent bulbs she'd offered when we might need them?!

-- Dave[this post was last edited: 12/11/2023-02:46]

 

[2packs4sure]

I've been down the "dimmable" LED road........

I LOVE LED lighting but I've been down the "dimmable" LED road several times now and I'm SO done.
Tried many combinations and some work ok but even then months down the line sometimes only hours,, they'll act weird and/or flicker then correct themselves (for a while)..
I'm done..
A while back I stocked up BIGLY on the few incandescents that I needed for specific applications dimmable and otherwise and unless I live to 100 I'm good.
I'm not going for it again.
No sir !!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Whoops, another place with a dimmer and incandescent, with these bulbs lasting a seemingly long time, only because due to the frequency of only using exactly the amount of light I normally and reasonably need:

-- Dave

 

[whitewhiskers]

Dimmable Par20

My range hood is an Allure by NuTone. It takes two Par20 halogen lamps. One of the lamps burned out. A few years ago I tried replacing the halogen with an LED but it didn't work. Fortunately back then halogens were still available. When I went on Amazon this time I found out halogen Par20's aren't sold anymore, it's all LED. Took a chance and bought something, this time it worked. The light is beautiful. Very bright which I love when cooking. It's dimmable too, not sure why I would want to dim the light but it works nevertheless. Things keep getting better and better