Dimmable Lighting Buzzing

[EFLImpudence]

I've often imagined how dumb we're going to feel when tidal or fusion or something else makes electricity so cheap

Like Nuclear and North Sea gas was going to be.

 

[JohnW2]

Like Nuclear and North Sea gas was going to be.

Well, as I recently wrote, our descendants are, somewhere down the line, going top have to somehow cope with a situation in which the accessible naturally-produced fossil fuels have all been used up.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Don't we have centuries worth of coal?

 

[JohnW2]

Don't we have centuries worth of coal?

Even if we do, as I said "somewhere down the line" our descendants are going to face its ultimate exhaustion.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

He did say "accessible".

When we closed down our coal mines we didn't do it in a way which mothballed them so that they could be opened up again with any reasonably feasible effort.

 

[ianniann]

Don't we have centuries worth of coal?

Back to town gas, eh? Not sure what my touchy-touchy condensing boiler will make of that.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It''d be fine after you've paid a condensing condescending RGI to change the burner jets.

 

[ort67]

Yes, the biggest trouble is with 12V LEDs. Unless you get the compatibility between dimmer, driver, and lamp exactly right then it may flicker, not dim smoothly, not dim at all, or not even light.

Mains voltage lamps are less trouble, but you can still have problems depending on the type of dimmer. The traditional leading edge dimmers have quite tight load requirements and one sized for traditional lamps probably won't work with LEDs. Trailing edge dimmers are often touted as the solution but are not necessarily better than a properly sized leading edge dimmer. Digital dimmers are the real answer, but that means a complete replacement with specialist lamps.

In the end I decided to scrap the dimmer switch and just get a regular non-dimming switch.

Looked into it and it was only going to get far too expensive.

I'd probably need to buy expensive dimmable LED bulbs that have the drivers built into them, or fit one into the light, started getting too complicated for a feature I don't really use.

Got a regular switch and now there is no more buzzing.

 

[ianniann]

In the end I decided to scrap the dimmer switch and just get a regular non-dimming switch.

Looked into it and it was only going to get far too expensive.

I'd probably need to buy expensive dimmable LED bulbs that have the drivers built into them, or fit one into the light, started getting too complicated for a feature I don't really use.

Got a regular switch and now there is no more buzzing.

Sad, isn't it. I love LED lamps, but the difficulty (or expense) getting ones that dim reliably and properly is a real stumbling block at the moment.

 

[ort67]

Sad, isn't it. I love LED lamps, but the difficulty (or expense) getting ones that dim reliably and properly is a real stumbling block at the moment.

Yes its a bit of a shame really, think that the Philips Master LEDs have drivers built in that make them compatible with most lights, but at £8 per piece its not really a gamble I can be bothered with.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Maybe LED lamps are like bread and white wine.

Good ones aren't cheap, and cheap ones aren't good.

 

[nellymcl]

Hi All
I have had fitted 13 Downlights to my lounge and all fitted with 5W LED Dimmable Lamps from LEDHut. Since I have over 10 LEDs I fitted the Varilight V-Pro 300W dimmer switch. TRouble is that the lamps buzz unless you are at full light. I have tried the 3 different modes on the V-Pro and although Mode 3 seems best there is still a buzz. I am tempted to return the bulbs to LED Hut but dont know what to replace with. Any thoughts?

 

[aptsys]

Can't say I have had any issues with V-Pro LED dimmers. If you still get buzzing with the V-Pro then the only real option is to change the lamps

 

[securespark]

there is never any certainty that any particular dimmer will work satisfactorily with any particular LED lamp - so there is always an element of gambling involved.

LED lamp manufacturers publish dimmer compatibility lists, here's Megaman's:

https://www.megamanuk.com/products/dimming-compatibility/

Osram's:

https://www.osram.com/media/resourc...superstar-classic---dimming-compatibility.pdf

So you can find out which dimmers work with the LED lamps you are considering.

 

[nellymcl]

Since LED hut recommend the varilight, it looks like I will be returning the lamps to LED hut and going for another brand.