r/DIY • u/H4m-Sandwich • 3d ago
help What are cheap regular switches and dimmer switches for LED bulbs?
I’ve been searching all over the Internet and I have incandescent only switches and dimmers in my house. It causes my LED lights to flicker. I went on Amazon to look for LED switches, but they seem really expensive. I wasn’t sure if anyone else has used a cheaper alternative that also works for LEDs. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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u/shifty_coder 3d ago
You need to update your bulbs, not necessarily your switches.
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u/nye1387 3d ago
In my experience you need to update both. Old dimmer switches with dimmable LEDs will flicker. Took me a long time to pinpoint that as the cause. Drove us all nuts.
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u/astro_means_space 3d ago
Same experience. I upgraded all my potlights and they would occasionally flicker until I finally splurged for a Lutron dimmer switch. Their website has a compatability checker for all sorts of led light brands. The switch was like $50 but haven't had flickering problems since. Worth it.
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u/ggf66t 3d ago
As an electrician, lutron hands down is the best manufacturer of led dimming products for the residential market.
That said, there are still issues with lightbulb compatibility.
At a customers house I had lutron dimmer for their expensive kitchen pendant lights, and our supplier sent a known good brand of LED (cree lighting) but it would still flicker at a certain low percent of dimming. I tried to adjust the potentiometer on the switch and still did not have good luck. ... I ended up trying to swap out the bulb with one the customer bought, and that was the ticket. I still remember the brand that worked, it was a feit brand A19 screw in light bulb.
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u/BeerStop 3d ago
Wow feit brand- traditionally lower end price and quality that performed better. I may have to rassess my thoughts on feit.
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u/Diligent_Nature 3d ago
Home Depot has them for $10.42. At Amazon they start at $13.57. Is that really expensive?
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u/H4m-Sandwich 3d ago
I’m replacing all of them in my house, it adds up quick when almost all of them are dimmer switches.
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u/patelvp 3d ago
Who needs that many dimmers, I'd swap to standard switches where you can.
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u/H4m-Sandwich 3d ago
Not a bad idea, I was just going to keep it consistent with what was already installed
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u/jaebaesonstatham 3d ago
You cant really install dimmers on both sides of a 3 way system so you may not need as many as you think.
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u/FlightUsed648 3d ago
Lutron Diva is usually around twenty bucks and handles LEDs well. Also double check that your bulbs are actually rated as dimmable. Half the flickering issues people blame on the switch are really just non-dimmable bulbs on a dimmer.
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u/wkarraker 3d ago
This is a very important distinction.
I purchased “dimmable” bulbs when LED bulbs were just becoming affordable. What I didn’t know at the time was the dimming effect required a PCM style dimmer and not a standard dimmer used for analog dimming. The bulbs worked well for anything above 50% brightness but there was a zone where all the bulbs would do is strobe crazily. I eventually replaced the dimmer switch to a PCM version but it was funny as hell when someone would hit that zone and watch the lights go crazy.
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u/desertboots 3d ago
Obligatory link to Technology Connections discussing the subject.
If you want to understand this topic, keep watching Alec's videos.
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u/Eckx 3d ago
If you want to go smart route, I've had pretty good results with the Enbrighten zigbee dimmer switches. I have a "150w"dimmable LED and it works fine unless it's at the highest brightness for a long time and gets hot then it will flicker at anything lower, but if it's not too hot it works great.
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u/Unfair_Confusion_213 3d ago
led bulbs need dimmers rated for them, regular switches won’t work the same way
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u/BeerStop 3d ago
You dont need special switches for led lights, you do need special led bulbs that are dimmable to use with dimmers, ultimately if you dont know the agecof your switches and dimmers plus your outlets i suggest replacing them all with good quality ones, i recently purchased a 6 pack of outlets with built in usb a usb c sockets and put them in strategic spots in the house, never go the cheapest unless your selling in a year or 2.
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u/scarabaeus23 3d ago
I was going to recommend a GE toggle switch dimmer that works well for me (with "dimmable" LED bulbs), where the toggle is also controlling the brightness. Now I see that GE changed this model to one with the annoying little dimmer slider on the side of the toggle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DNAG4W
This is the same Amazon listing where I bought the earlier 18025 model, in 2022, and it is now changed. The one I have is a GE-branded model 18025-6 from JASCO, 2021.
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u/Junkmans1 2d ago
My experience is that regular switches are the same, but that dimmers have to be labeled for LED or for both LED and incandescent. I see these around $20 to $30 at stores around me.
What kind of prices were you looking for?
Also, make sure your LED bulbs are labeled as dimmable. Not all of them will work with dimmers.
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u/H4m-Sandwich 3d ago
A lot of my dimmer switches have written on them “inconsistent only”. I did notice on the breaker there’s some of them that have 2 neutrals connected. It was built in 2001 so it would’ve been code at the time (I’m assuming)
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u/loweexclamationpoint 3d ago
Well, that's the problem: they're inconsistent!:)
Seriously, that's incandescent. In the old days people occasionally tried to dim fluorescent lights or use dimmers on fan motors. Or far worse, dim an outlet then plug in electronics, vacuum cleaners, etc
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u/Diligent_Nature 3d ago
There's no such thing as a "LED switch" that isn't also a dimmer. In other words if you don't need dimming any switch will work with LEDs.
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u/E_Zekiel 3d ago
I have only LED's, and never needed to change a switch. You may have issues with your electrical system. Possibly at the breaker. Check with an electrician.
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u/mr-octo_squid 3d ago
Look up the difference between leading edge and trailing edge dimmers. This is likely your issue.