Suitability of dimmer switches

Jun 11, 2013 13 Replies

Mother-in-law is looking for new light fittings for a couple of rooms but her final choice will be decided by the decorative design of the fittings, rather than what sort of lamps are used.



There are currently dimmer switches fitted in those rooms and I seem to vaguely remember that not all lamps are suitable for use on dimmers - or perhaps that should be that dimmers are not suitable for use with all lamps?



Anyway, anything we should be aware of?



TIA


Most CFL (Compact fluorescent - low energy) lamps can't be dimmed. Some LED ones can be.

on 11/06/2013, charles supposed :

Thanks Charles

charles put finger to keyboard:

Halogen are another dimmable option, although I've seen them die prematurely due to fairly low levels of vibration.

Scion presented the following explanation :

Thank you Scion

for both you can get special dimmers, normal dimmers will blow LEDs not sure what will happen with CFLs but I doubt they'll work.

Halogens work with dimmers but sometimes the blowest wattage marked on the dimmers might mean you can't dim all the way down.

Thanks for that Whiskey-Dave, cheers

We have dimmers for LED and Halogen lights - and in all but the highest loaded circuit (3 * 60W) the dimmers have started to fail.

We have

3 * LED 1 * halogen (2 off) 2 * halogen (2 off)

and all are showing lesser or greater symptoms.

So check carefully with your supplier.

Cheers

Dave R

Older, conventional dimmers, won't dim LEDs (but there are some exceptions). Most dimmable LEDs (and they have to be designed as 'dimmable') need a trailing-edge dimmer. Most CFLs can't be dimmed, but never having bought any dimmable ones I don't know for sure how fussy they might be. I wouldn't put CFLs or LEDs of any sort on a dimming circuit without making sure there's compatability. Could be expensive.

Yes it's best if you constantly hit them with a hammer.

Bill

Bill Wright put finger to keyboard:

Lol the ones I had didn't need that, a couple of heavy footsteps on the floor above did them in.

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