We couldn't even hear anything when we dimmed it using the cheap, incandescent-only dimmer. The overachiever was the current generation of the company's standard 60-watt replacement LED, which ran darn near silent across all three dimmers. Interestingly enough, they both came from Philips. There were two standouts, though - one good, and one not so good. For the most part, the buzzing in the LEDs we tested fell somewhere in the middle: fairly moderate, but certainly loud enough to be a legitimate bother. The result you want is a bulb that rates "very quiet" across the board, as even a "quiet" buzz can get annoying in a quiet room. We rated each bulb's buzz on each dimmer using a five-point scale - very quiet, quiet, moderate, loud, and very loud. Sure enough, the 60-watt incandescents that we tested out in our rig put out a noticeable buzz across all three switches.Įven without filaments, LEDs have plenty of parts that can vibrate and produce that annoying buzz, and most of the ones we tested did just that, even well-rated bulbs like the Cree 60-watt replacement LED and the GE Reveal LED.
The tungsten filaments in most incandescent bulbs are particularly susceptible to the buzz-producing vibration caused by in-wall dimmers. Most of today's LEDs are dimmable - but does that mean that they'll dim well?ĭimming annoyances aren't a new problem - and they aren't a problem that's unique to LEDs, either. As you'll see, dimmable LEDs are not all created equal. That lends a lot of credence to manufacturer claims of wide dimmer compatibility - but it's only the start of the story. Interestingly enough, each and every LED that we tested dimmed with all three dimmers, even the one rated only for incandescent use. As such, your mileage may vary - especially if you're using an older model, or something more high end. Though we aimed for a good representation of what's out there, there are obviously more than three kinds of dimmer switches on the market. We chose an LED-compatible model from Lutron, a similar Leviton switch, and a cheap, $5 triac rotary dial intended for incandescents only. We started with a simple rig using a few common dimmer switches. These rapid-fire swings in voltage create electromagnetic resistance in the bulb, which can cause things to vibrate and buzz. Modern dimmers (the kinds you'll find on the shelf at Lowe's or Home Depot) won't actually raise and lower the voltage for smooth dimming, but will instead flash the power up and down at unnoticeably high speeds to create the illusion of dimming. The most common issue, though, lies with the dimmer itself, and that's where we decided to start. There are lots of things that can cause a light bulb to buzz or flicker when it dims, including things beyond the bulb's control like voltage irregularities, overloaded circuits, and outside interference. In the interest of making your next trip to the lighting aisle a little less exasperating, we put today's LEDs to the test. We've heard plenty of complaints from readers, and also experienced first hand the annoyance of spending money on upgraded lighting, only to discover that these fancy new bulbs can buzz, flicker, and dim erratically. Sure, plenty of today's LEDs are designed with dimmability in mind, but that doesn't guarantee satisfactory performance.
Living in a home filled with dimmer switches can make the lighting aisle seem more intimidating than it ought to be.
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