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Dimming with LEDs and Standard Dimmers (Leading edge)
There are now many different lamps on the market from the old incandescent lamps which have just about been phased out to compact fluorescent and LED, however the number of dimmable lamps across these products is much smaller and in some cases only recently available.
It is important to note some of the newer lamps such as CFL and LED can suffer problems when installed alongside standard incandescent dimmers. (Leading edge)
Some issues that present themselves are:
Flicker.
When at the bottom of the dimming range flicker or a strobe like effect may occur. Not all LED products are dimmable, please look for the dimmable symbol when selecting your lamp. Most dimmer switches on the market are designed to work with a resistive load (such as a halogen or incandescent lamp). As LED products use a capacitive load, they may not function properly on all dimmers.
Reduced dimming range.
Halogen bulbs will typically dim lower than CFL or LED bulbs. Some dimmable CFLs will dim down to 5% measured light output. Whereas LED lamps often only dim down to 5% to 20% of their output
Drop out.
LED lights can ‘drop-out,’ meaning that the light turns off before the dimmer control reaches the bottom of its travel. This occurs when the dimmer’s lowest voltage setting is lower than the voltage required to operate the light and it creates a section on the dimmer slide that is essentially dead.
Pop on.
The opposite occurs when turning on the lights, in that the dimmer switch must be moved some distance before the lights ‘pop-on.’
To minimise these potential issues
Where our products are classified as dimmable, we recommend using a trailing edge dimmer such as the Varilight V-Pro range. Leading edge dimmers can also be used provided a resistive load is added into the circuit, we recommend the resistive loads from the Danlers range