The Best Dimmable Lightbulb

Dimmable lights support a reduction in energy consumption and prime mood lighting in your home. To utilize this type of lighting, you must have a dimmable light switch installed and compatible light bulbs. While installing a non-dimmable bulb in a dimmable circuit may cause damage to the bulb or circuit, a dimmable bulb in a non-dimmable circuit will work just fine — it will just run at an unadjustable 100% output. Light bulbs are clearly marked as dimmable or non-dimmable on their packaging or ordering website.

There are as many dimmer-compatible light bulbs available for sale as standard bulbs, with variations in type, wattage, size, style and color of lighting. Like adjusting the water pressure on a facet, incandescent bulbs or lights with filaments are the easiest to dim (it’s a matter of lowering the power supplied to the filament using the dimmer switch). Florescent lights are commonly not dimmable due to the cost of dimmer-compatible ballasts, while compact fluorescent lights (CFL) that are fitted with their own ballast and standard screw bases are (check the manufacturers’ instructions to make sure).

Light-emitting diodes (LED), which use 75% of the energy and last 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, are another popular option. While LEDs are generally priced higher than incandescent ones, they cost less to operate and don’t have to be replaced near as often, saving you cash over the lifetime of the bulb. But your dimming module’s compatibility with LED bulbs determines if and how well the system works, so be aware of your dimmer manufacturer’s requirements.

• Do not install a non-dimmable LED or filament light bulb in a dimmable circuit.
• LEDs have a lower dimming range than incandescent lightbulbs.
• The dimming performance of an LED light is regulated by the capability of the built-in driver or circuitry of an LED and the compatibility of the dimming system. A few functionality issues to look out for that may occur when a dimmer is connected to an incompatible LED bulb include no visible light output, light output that doesn’t match the movement of the dimmer switch and flickering.
• Most LED light bulbs on the marketplace are dimmable if you are using a compact fluorescent light (CFL) or LED dimmer.