LED bulb, Dimmer switch = flickering.

[robj20]

Got a smart dimmer switch trailing edge. Instructions said 10w minimum so got a 12W led bulb.
However using the Hue app anything above about 65% brightness makes it flicker. Anything I can do?

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Did you get a dimmable capable bulb?

 

[MassiveJim]

welcome to the minefield of LED bulbs and dimmers.

Varilight VPro dimmers are a little bit more expensive than some of the others but I have had the best results with them.

 

[robj20]

welcome to the minefield of LED bulbs and dimmers.

Varilight VPro dimmers are a little bit more expensive than some of the others but I have had the best results with them.

Do they require a neutral wire?

Edit, they don't appear to be smart capable either so no good.

 

[MassiveJim]

Do they require a neutral wire?

Edit, they don't appear to be smart capable either so no good.

didnt realise you needed smart capable.

I went for aurora smart rotary dimmers and the quality is poor. they will need either a smart things hub or an aurora hub.
I have a smart things hub and the 2 way dimming doesn't work properly, I contacted aurora about this and they said it doesn't work unless you have the aurora hub, IO told them the box the dimmer came in had smart things compatible on it, they said that was a printing mistake and it shouldn't be there, overall I would definitely steer clear of these.

I am likely going to ditch them though for lightwave RF switches, although they don't have a physical dimmer that you can turn I believe you have to hold a button down to dim/brighten the lights.

neither of the above need a neutral wire

 

[robj20]

didnt realise you needed smart capable.

I went for aurora smart rotary dimmers and the quality is poor. they will need either a smart things hub or an aurora hub.
I have a smart things hub and the 2 way dimming doesn't work properly, I contacted aurora about this and they said it doesn't work unless you have the aurora hub, IO told them the box the dimmer came in had smart things compatible on it, they said that was a printing mistake and it shouldn't be there, overall I would definitely steer clear of these.

I am likely going to ditch them though for lightwave RF switches, although they don't have a physical dimmer that you can turn I believe you have to hold a button down to dim/brighten the lights.

neither of the above need a neutral wire

The lightwave RF switch said it needs a hub, will the Hue hub work?

Looking at a few reviews they seem to have the same flickering issue I have with the switch I have.

 

[MassiveJim]

The lightwave RF switch said it needs a hub, will the Hue hub work?

Looking at a few reviews they seem to have the same flickering issue I have with the switch I have.

I think unless you geta "wifi" switch they are all going to need a hub. the Lightwave will need a lightwave hib afaik.

I don't have any hands on experience with them, I was unaware of the flickering issues I'll have to do some more digging.

My current switches, worked fine with my old GU10 bulbs (8 on the circuit) but I bought some new bulbs and they flicker above 70%, the solution for now is inside smarttyings I setup a macro that dims the lights to 70% if they are turned on at anything above, its not flawless but it works pretty well.

 

[robj20]

I think unless you geta "wifi" switch they are all going to need a hub. the Lightwave will need a lightwave hib afaik.

I don't have any hands on experience with them, I was unaware of the flickering issues I'll have to do some more digging.

My current switches, worked fine with my old GU10 bulbs (8 on the circuit) but I bought some new bulbs and they flicker above 70%, the solution for now is inside smarttyings I setup a macro that dims the lights to 70% if they are turned on at anything above, its not flawless but it works pretty well.

And to think this would all be fixed if Philips would just released some proper UK switches.

 

[Bug One]

I have this as well in some rooms. Old fashioned dimmers and LED bulbs don't work all that well together. Even 'Dimmable' leds.

Eventually, I'll rip all the wall mounted dimmers out and replace the bulbs with wifi enabled ones.

 

[jpaul]

have a look at earlier thread V - you do need a minimum load to ensure the lightwave rf will work - z-wave fibaro mentioned look preferable.

dedicated z-wave/zigbee hub is needed, and samsung are changing their support for smarthings hub, I thought ?

I have used first first gen Lightwave light switches with LAP dimmable bulbs, GU10 and BC fitting without any issue.

Also used the GU10 bulbs with zwave dimmer modules without issue.

The advantage of the Lightwave products is the ability to replace normal light switches without any rewiring being required, ie they work off just the switched live where as most if not all other products require a live and negative which isnt always possible, I have not looked at any 2nd gen switches yet which apparently add 2 way comms, ie confirmation the command has been carried out and what current switch state is, 1st gen you send the command and hope it works, 99% it does but there is no confirmation and cannot show current state.

 

[MassiveJim]

And to think this would all be fixed if Philips would just released some proper UK switches.

hmmm, I wouldn't say "fixed" because you would still be stuck buying smart bulbs with a poor CRI and at a greater cost as all of the smart tech is built into the bulb.

For now at least I am sticking with dumb bulbs and smart switches.
We've just moved house anyway so I haven't had much chance to setup a lot of my smart home kit yet.