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Forgive me for posting on an inappropriate forum – and please suggest a better forum if you know of one. But I’ve always had good advice here in the past – so in the meantime…
Does anyone here know anything about dimmable LED light bulbs? I use them in my lounge. 10 x bulbs split between a dual-gang wall dimmer. I’ve tried 2 x different types of bulb (albeit both made by Philips). And I’ve tried 3 x different LED dimmer units (2 x trailing edge and 1 x leading edge) but no matter what combination I use, dimmed bulbs simply won’t stay at their dimmed level. The light level constantly varies up and down – though the bulbs work fine when not dimmed (and I’ve checked with Philips that I’ve definitely bought a dimmable type).
So are dimmable LED bulbs a huge con? Do they simply not work? Or should I ditch these ones and try some alternative make?
Thanks Dave. I’ve changed to the correct type for LED bulbs and there are enough bulbs to satisfy the minimum load requirement (so there’s no flickering).
LED dimmer units come in 2 x types called ‘leading edge’ and trailing edge’. Up to now I’ve only used Philips bulbs which Philips confirmed as being leading-edge but I’ve tried both dimmer types here (just in case Philips were mistaken). Unfortunately, neither dimmer provides satisfactory dimming 🙁
I’ve got a couple of dimmable Sylvania 8.5W lamps on a cheap Wickes dimmer and they work fine. It is a leading edge dimmer but is marked as suitable for LEDs. They don’t go down as low as the previous dimmer I had with incandescent lamps but it’s been working just fine for over two years.
Thanks tubafan… what happens with the Sylvania bulbs if you try to set them low? e.g. do they just stay turned off? What happens with the Philips bulbs is that I can set them to whatever level I like but they’ll only maintain their level if it’s pretty bright to begin with. At lower levels they just wander about, getting brighter, then dimmer, then brighter, then dimmer all the time – hugely annoying 🙁
The dimmer switch I have has an adjustment screw inside to set the minimum dimming level. If I set it too low the lamps will dim to a lower level just fine but will then not start again if you switch them off and back on with the low level set. If I then turn up the dimmer they will then start. The instructions on the dimmer say to set the adjustment at the lowest level that will allow the lamps to start when the dimmer is turned right down (it’s a push button start type).
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