Picture this: You've just swapped out the old bulbs in your house for shiny new LED ones, only to find them flickering. Talk about a mood killer! While it's a pretty common problem, flickering LEDs can totally ruin the vibe of your space. But don't worry – it's usually an easy fix.
So, what's causing your LED bulbs to do the flicker dance?
Well, there's no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are the usual suspects:
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You're using an outdated dimmer
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The wiring's loose or not quite right
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Something's up with the LED bulb itself, like a faulty driver
The good news is that once you figure out the cause, you can get your lights back to their steady, energy-saving glory in no time!
Generally speaking, the flickering issue occurs when you use an old dimmer. The thing is: LED bulbs have are not 100% compatible with old dimmers, which were meant to be used with only incandescent bulbs.
Like a computer, LED light bulbs work in a binary on and off state. Whereas, old dimmers evenly change the current level provided to the light bulb. Because of this flickering may occur if you use LED light bulbs with old dimmers.
So, what’s needs to be done? You may ask.
It’s pretty simple. Get new dimmers — ones that are built for LED technology.
Not only you’ll be able to fix the flickering problem, but you also will also ensure your LED bulb consistently performs at its optimal level.
Just a heads up: While most LED bulbs are dimmable, some of them are not. If you try to use a non-dimmable LED with a dimmer switch (doesn't matter if it's old or new), you might end up with some annoying issues like flickering. Your best bet? Swap out that non-dimmable bulb for a dimmable LED bulb. Problem solved.
However, there are times when an LED bulb flickers even when it is switched off. This is exactly what happened with Sarah Baker, a pre-school teacher in Southampton and one of our many repeat customers.
She purchased LED bulb from our online store to replace traditional bulbs in her house, only to find LED light bulbs flickering. She sent us an email, stating: I replaced traditional bulbs with LEDs but see them flickering when they are not in use. I’m not talking about that faint glow which faces after 20-25 seconds — this is like a full-on flicker show! What should I do?
The first thing we asked Sarah if she’s using smart switches. When she said that she is, we had a hunch that’s where the problem lies. These switches need some amount of standby power, which in turn may cause LED light bulbs to flicker even when switched off.
To confirm, we had Sarah perform a simple 3-step test:
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Turn off the smart switch
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Take a one-touch tester and press its tip to the bottom of the light socket
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Check if the tester glows or not. If it does, that means there’s a little bit of current leakage and stray capacitance
As expected, in Sarah’s case the tester glowed. So, we asked her to call her local electrician and have him check the light socket and the switch, because there’s nothing wrong with the LED light bulbs. We advise you to do the same if you find yourself in a similar situation.
Finally, also give your local electrician a shout if your LED light bulb is flickering even when you are using a dimmable LED light bulb with a LED dimmer and don’t have a smart switch. Chances are you have loose wiring or faulty connections.
That’s it! What was the root cause LED flickering in your case? Were you able to fix it?
Let us know if this blog post has helped you and please share it to help others.