Some of the lamp sockets in our house are recently wired with dimmers. Now the EU makes progress in forbidding bulbs and LED lamps are becoming more and more common, I tried to find some dimmable LED lamps.
The local shops didn’t carry any dimmable LED lamps so I tried to find some online. I noticed national webshops sold E27 type LED lamps for significantly higher prices than the bulbs and even non-dimmable LED lamps. About € 34 for a 7 Watt dimmable LED lamp from Philips, that is strangely enough sold as ’50 Watt’. I guess what they mean is, that it is supposed to give as much light as a 50 Watt bulb. Which again is a bit unexpected, since 50 Watt is not a wattage I have ever encountered on a bulb.
Pigheaded and cheap as I am, I ordered a much less expensive 10 Watt dimmable LED lamp from DX.com.
The pros of dimmable LED lamps
- It was only 1/3 of the price at € 12,56 / $ 16.60.
- It gives ‘warm white’ light as promised, not the cold white type.
- At 10 Watt it was the dimmable LED with the highest wattage I could find. It gives at least as much light as a 60 Watt warm white bulb.
- It has the right E27 fitting and 220 Voltage.
- You determine the brightness.
- This one has the newer type SMD LEDs that don’t get (too) hot.
So I ordered a few more. Then I found out that the dimmers should be suited for dimmable LED lamps too. At first I thought I would get away with the old dimmers, but once I fitted three dimmable LED lamps, some gave strange effects when dimmed.
The cons of dimmable LED lamps
- It’s more expensive than a regular LED lamp.
- It needs a suitable dimmer, which is more expensive too.
- They are not as easy to get by.
So now I have to used them at full brightness or replace the dimmers as well. Since the dimmers are brand new I am reluctant to already replace them with € 70 LED compatible dimmers. Using an old skool bulb instead costs only a few euros.