Neighbour's installation has dimmer switches plus ...

I'm sticking with win 7 till some applications need to be updated or until the anti virus no longer supports windows 7. Brian

It's just possible the dimmers may work with LEDs. I have MK grid ones dating from the 90s which do.

You won't break anything by trying LED bulbs on a none LED dimmer.

I have bought LED bulbs from homebase that are both cheap and alledely dimmable. They sort of dim - not great, but dim they do. On a bog standard dimnmer.

You can get LED compatible dimmer modules to replace the rotary knob things in the existing dimnmer foir not huge money

Thanks. I have now seen the dangling bulb, which is LED; it works on the existing dimmer.

I have some spare LED bulbs, which are all BC; but her fitting is ES. I have a BC-ES adaptor, but it is the wrong way round :-(>.

I'll get an ES bulb to be tried on the next convenient day.

If TLC prices are to go by, you'll not save anything over buying a complete one. Of course if the existing plate matches other fittings, just changing the modules can make sense.

All perfectly doable. She needs LED bulbs which are dimmable - not all are - and she needs a dimmer switch which is capable of handling LEDs.

When I asked a similar question a while ago, Adam recommended the Varilight V-Pro range. I fitted one when I fitted a new 5-bulb pendant light in my dining room using dimmable LED bulbs - and it's been fine.

It may simply be a case of replacing the existing two-gang dimmer switch with one of these:

Not true at all. If you're lucky they'll work fine together. If you're unlucky the lamps will use CR PSUs which die quickly on trailing or leading edge dimmers.

NT

Particularly if the LED load is less than the minumum rated load of the dimmer. The smell from an exploded LED bulb hangs around for weeks.

I've never damaged a LED by *trying* it on a non trailing edge dimmer. Long term use might, of course, but why would you?

Can you explain the theory behind that?

then you've not used a CR PSU led light for that job.

nothing long term about it, the PSU R experiences gross overload and smokes in seconds.

NT

How would I know a CR PSU from an LED that simply says 'dimmable' (with a suitable dimmer) ?

I found the Varilight vpro range very good with LEDs declared as dimmable.

Indeed. When LED bulbs finally became affordable I replaced 10 x 50W halogen bulbs originally configured split over 2 x dimmer switches with "dimmable" LED bulbs but all wired as a single circuit to keep the load up.

Switched them on and the bulb closest to the dimmer blew, switched it off and thought it might just have been a duff bulb as all the rest were fine so took it out and switched them back on and the next (now the closest) bulb blew.

Replaced dimmer with a regular light switch after that and use a small table lamp for softer lighting.

Dimmable LEDs can not contain CR PSUs, they don't survive chopper dimming. The only way to tell a CR PSU LED from an SMPSU LED is to open it up.

NT

I don?t have theory, I have practice.

But I imagine that (assuming some inductor in the dimmer circuit) if the load is too low it generates spikes ? 240V that the LED can?t handle. Of course, it could have been coincidence, but I?m certain about the smell.