Best Dimmer Switch for CREE Bulbs

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ThirstyTurtle

ThirstyTurtle

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
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Hey everyone! My wife and I recently had our first child, yay! Since we're often up in the middle of the night now, I'd like to be able to dim the lamps in our bedroom. We have matching lamps on each side of our bed, each with a 40w equivalent CREE bulb (the original glass ones, not the new 4Flow bulbs).

I want to make an inline dimmer switch using an extension cord and a switch box and mount the box on the back of our nightstands for easy on/off and dimming. However, I can't for the life of me figure out what dimmer to use with these bulbs! I once tried three different dimmers that were listed as "compatible" by CREE when trying to dim the bulbs in my kitchen, and they all produced terrible buzzing and wouldn't dim very low so I ditched that idea.

Can anyone tell me, from experience, what specific dimmer will provide quiet, very low-dimmable operation with my CREE bulbs? If necessary, I'm willing to buy Phillips or other bulbs, as long as someone can give me a bulb/dimmer combination that is known to work like it should.

Thank you!
 
ThirstyTurtle said:
Hey everyone! My wife and I recently had our first child, yay! Since we're often up in the middle of the night now, I'd like to be able to dim the lamps in our bedroom. We have matching lamps on each side of our bed, each with a 40w equivalent CREE bulb (the original glass ones, not the new 4Flow bulbs).

I want to make an inline dimmer switch using an extension cord and a switch box and mount the box on the back of our nightstands for easy on/off and dimming. However, I can't for the life of me figure out what dimmer to use with these bulbs! I once tried three different dimmers that were listed as "compatible" by CREE when trying to dim the bulbs in my kitchen, and they all produced terrible buzzing and wouldn't dim very low so I ditched that idea.

Can anyone tell me, from experience, what specific dimmer will provide quiet, very low-dimmable operation with my CREE bulbs? If necessary, I'm willing to buy Phillips or other bulbs, as long as someone can give me a bulb/dimmer combination that is known to work like it should.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I have not had any success with any dimmers getting the Cree bulbs to dim very low unfortunately.
 
SemiMan said:
I have not had any success with any dimmers getting the Cree bulbs to dim very low unfortunately.
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O no! This is my fear...have you tried any other brands for dimmability?

I'd even be willing to go back to CFLs if someone could verify a good dimmer that would go ultra low. Ideally I'd like to be able to crank it back from ~400 lumens or so all the way to maybe...5-10?

When you wake up in a PITCH black room, it doesn't take much. I've been using my H602w bounced off the ceiling on the second lowest low which us under a lumen and that's been pretty good. We usually keep a dark t shirt over the lamps though so a lot of light is cut that way.
 
In my exp, I have yet to find a store bought led/cfl + dimmer combo that works well (clean, quiet & very low) in comparison to incandescent bulbs and dimmers. In my bedroom, the main overhead is LED but my nightstand lights are 40w incans on cable dimmers.
 
FRITZHID said:
In my exp, I have yet to find a store bought led/cfl + dimmer combo that works well (clean, quiet & very low) in comparison to incandescent bulbs and dimmers. In my bedroom, the main overhead is LED but my nightstand lights are 40w incans on cable dimmers.
Click to expand...

Yea, they all seem to only dim to about 25% or so. Not like incandescents which go from 100% down to "barely lit"
 
FRITZHID said:
In my exp, I have yet to find a store bought led/cfl + dimmer combo that works well (clean, quiet & very low) in comparison to incandescent bulbs and dimmers. In my bedroom, the main overhead is LED but my nightstand lights are 40w incans on cable dimmers.
Click to expand...
Well maybe I need to go back to the past and buy a couple incandescents and a standard rotary dimmer...
 
FRITZHID said:
They make dimmers for table lamps. They have a cord and a m/f socket that you plug the lamp into.
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I've seen those and might use one but from what I've read they don't dim very low. They're also $15 and I think I can make one for about half that if I use the cheapest dimmer available.

The question now is where to get incandescent bulbs...aren't they completely phased out in the standard size?
 
I too searched for a decent dimmer but gave found any that would work. Went back to incans and a 3 way touch dinner.
I run lithonia dimmers around the house but have found with the new wave of bulbs they don't dim down very far anymore.
 
FRITZHID said:
The dimmers I use go low enough to barely be seen. They were only about $7 iirc. As far as bulbs go, I find them all over still but I'd check rummage sales.
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Can you post a link to the dimmers you use?

Just left Lowes where I spent $20 on supplies for two dimmers. The Lutron slide cord dimmers were $13/piece so I saved a few pennies. I primarily went this route because the lamps can easily be turned on and off at a predetermined dimmed level whereas on the pre-made ones it seemed the only way to turn them off is to dim them all the way down.

Interested to see which ones you use, if you post soon enough I may return my supplies and buy what you use.

PS_this is the one they had at Lowes:
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Lutron-Credenza-1-5-Amp-300-Watt-WhiteGloss-Slide-Dimmer/3189447
 
That's actually the dimmer I use for 2 of the 3 corded dimmers in my house. True, they dim down to go off but I have pull chain switches on the lamps already do I can set the dimmer and then pull the chain for on/off. However, if the dimmer (Any dimmer) is set low enough, there's a chance the triac won't kick back on once the circuit is closed again.... Meaning you need to turn it up enough to trigger then dim back down to desired level. This happens on all the dimmers in my home, corded and rotary.
 
FRITZHID said:
That's actually the dimmer I use for 2 of the 3 corded dimmers in my house. True, they dim down to go off but I have pull chain switches on the lamps already do I can set the dimmer and then pull the chain for on/off. However, if the dimmer (Any dimmer) is set low enough, there's a chance the triac won't kick back on once the circuit is closed again.... Meaning you need to turn it up enough to trigger then dim back down to desired level. This happens on all the dimmers in my home, corded and rotary.
Click to expand...
And they go super low?

Where did you find them for $7?!
 
Just checked the odd dimmer I have, it's a "GOLO" dimmer. I actually prefer that one over the lutron units cause it seems to very the light more smoothly. It has a much wider traveling POT in it.
Thing I like about these is they are prefab. No hacking together. Just plug n play
 
FRITZHID said:
Just checked the odd dimmer I have, it's a "GOLO" dimmer. I actually prefer that one over the lutron units cause it seems to very the light more smoothly. It has a much wider traveling POT in it.
Thing I like about these is they are prefab. No hacking together. Just plug n play
Click to expand...
Ya that's part of why I wanted to use the standard rotary dimmer, the large range of motion in the switch. Can't find anything about the "golo" brand but that one sounds nice!
 
Thanks for the picture and link!

My wife ended up wanting me to come home ASAP to help with the baby so I decided to just follow through and build my own since I already bought the supplies. They're not pretty but I'm going to mount them on the back if the nightstands so that only the knob protrudes from the side.

I tested them on a CREE LED knowing full well that it wouldn't work. Well, it worked! It won't turn the bulb on until about 50% brightness, but you can then dial it all the way back to VERY dim. If you go too dim, it will cut off in a minute or so. It flickers a bit when a high-low electric device engages (a/c, dryer, etc.) but it doesn't make any noise or flicker otherwise. Pretty impressive in my opinion!

However, I'm going to go the incandescent route still (at least on my wife's side) as turning it up to 50% to get it on and a potential risk of it randomly turning off would be a no-go for her.

Here's one of them:
8653d3911637a0875a5f33379cf43cd4.jpg


f3673b5c094aeba8c2b354ce2cfe5eea.jpg


I'll post a couple pics once it is mounted.

For everyone's reference, I'm using this dimmer:
cd25a80e23f438967778bc112f390779.jpg
 
Scattered around my house, I have different variations of plug in the wall, auto on, emergency power failure lights. Some, I have can be a night light, others not. At any rate, I have one, as a night light in the master bathroom, and I leave the door open, so that it shines some, but not too much light into my bedroom.

I have them placed in locations such that pretty much where ever you are in the house, including the basement, if the power fails, you'll still have some light. One is centrally located, plugged into an extension cord, and placed on top of the living room entertainment unit.

Just a thought.

Oh... and good job McGyvering. I built a couple extension cords with ground fault receptacles for outdoor use.
 
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