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Can someone ELI5 why often lights set up with a dimmer also flicker? (mander.xyz)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Seen this in many houses, people upgrade their lighting setup and install a dimmer. Which works. But usually it also makes the lights flicker unintentionally, which is super annoying IMO.

Now, my understanding of electrical engineering is pretty rudimentary so I'd appreciate more something that explains the concept in a way that Cavewoman Mothra can understand rather than something technically accurate.

Thanks

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

LED lights are either all on or all off, the only way to dim a LED, is to make it blink really fast and change the time it’s on vs the time it’s off. Cheap LED lights don’t blink fast enough, so you see them flicker.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's not the only way to dim an LED, just the cheapest. Variable current power regulators are the premium option.

A screw-in LED bulb combines LEDs and power regulating electronics. Some of them handle the variable input voltage a household dimmer provides gracefully, but that's more expensive.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Changing the current can change the hue (color) of the led. In some cases it’s okay in some cases it isn’t. Cinema lights for instance don’t dim with voltage because of that. Instead they have 3 separate drivers synchronized to dim in a canon. One after the other so that there is always the same number of LEDs on at all time regardless of the dimmer level.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

That's true. Describing current regulation as the premium option was an oversimplification. For household lighting, it's usually the premium option.