Dimmable LED bulb recommendations in the U.S.

[Jakelay]

Hi all. Decided I am going to move my existing HUE bulbs out of some areas and put in some dimmable keypads and dimmers in those rooms. I’ll still use HUE in some areas but not the first one or two rooms I’m going to experiment in.

I need to replace the HUE bulbs in the hi hats and the table lamps with LEDs that are dimmable and I’m looking for recommendations for brands that work well in people’s experience. Don’t need color changing for these areas just LEDs that look like ‘normal’ incandescents.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions or things to look out for that would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance! 

[shupp872]

I have had good luck with Cree bulbs (from Home Depot), but they have changed designs a few times.  The latest ones seem to be a good balance between cost and lifespan.  I did have some older style bulbs that got occasional flicker on the old dimmers when turning off, and I have had a few die as well over time.

[zaphod]

You often pay more for dimmers that work well with LEDs and LEDs that dim properly.  And even then I find that they don't dim as well as incandesant bulbs, or Hue bulbs either.  But that is more on the lower end of the dimming scale, say below 50%.

[rea]

I have many Ecosmart brand LED can lights (BR30) in my house and they've worked quite well. Like with most LEDs, you're not going to probably see a lot of difference in the lower end like you would with incandescent, but no flickering issues. Can find them at Amazon and Home Depot. 

[penn65000]

My experience is that all major brand leds (Phillips, Ecosmart, Feit, GE, Satco etc) work perfectly fine with C4 adaptive phase dimmers. I personally can’t stand CREE as almost all their bulbs have failed in 3-4 years (max). I mailed a box of dead bulbs to their ceo. No reply. Cree are crap. 

[Pounce]

In my experience bulbs can change quality and parts over time. I typically buy 4 or 5 single bulbs from different brands for the bulb type I want and test them for color temp and flickering. I'm sensitive to flicker or rather I can see it where other people cannot. When I pick the bulb I like I buy 125% of the quantity I need so I have enough for some doa bulbs and replacements. I learned this after having my favorite brands go to hell when I went to replace a few bad bulbs.

You want to really pay attention to the color temp you like. I don't have any 5000+ kelvin bulbs. I run 4000k in kitchens in my rentals. People like it. 3000k most everywhere else and then 2700-2200k in special places.

There are some interesting dimming bulbs around that can switch their color temp on the bulb and some using quick toggles of the switch. That gives you some flexibility.

I actually still intentionally run some incandescent bulbs on dimmers because they dim "correctly" and they get warmer when dimmed.

All that to mean you should always try bulbs before you buy a lot of them. Really consider the color temps.

[zaphod]

2 hours ago, Pounce said:

I actually still intentionally run some incandescent bulbs on dimmers because they dim "correctly" and they get warmer when dimmed.

I agree with this completely and indandescent bulbs seem to last a LOT longer when they aren't on at 100% very often.  They do use a bit more energy but that "wasted" energy is heat which isn't really wasted here in Canada 10 months of the year.

[C4 User]

Like many on here i have tried them all and recommend you do the same to find what works best for you.

i have a few hundred Philips led’s that dim very nicely and change color temp to closely match incandescents. I also have some Hue’s and LIFX in special areas where i wanted color and would recommend both.

as recommended upstream, when you find what you like, buy lifetime supply.

[DawnGordon]

For incandescent bulbs, according to Control4: dimming incandescent bulbs to 90% doubles the life of the bulb.

 

[RyanE]

3 hours ago, DawnGordon said:

For incandescent bulbs, according to Control4: dimming incandescent bulbs to 90% doubles the life of the bulb.

I have incandescent bulbs that have always been on dimmers, used multiple times a day (probably never > 75%) that are right around 20 years old (when we built the house).

RyanE

[zaphod]

Given that experience - why even bother with LEDs? 

[Pounce]

36 minutes ago, zaphod said:

Given that experience - why even bother with LEDs? 

Color temp choice. Less power consumption. Less heat. Availability. Smart choices. Creative form factors. In some cases much greater lifetimes due to harsh conditions.

[RyanE]

I avoided jumping into non-incandescent bulbs until about a year ago.

Dimmable LED bulbs have gotten much better in the past year or so, and they're mostly acceptable.

Their life is nowhere near the rated life, and they still don't ramp down to the lowest level nearly as well, but they certainly are much more efficient, and the color is not bad nowadays, either.

I've replaced most of my lights with LED, but still have both LED and incandescent in some rooms, so I can get the lower dimming on incandescent, and if I don't need that, go with the LEDs.

RyanE

[C4 User]

My standard Philips LED bulbs easily dim to 15% with color that is very close to incandescent. Most are over 3 years old and I would assume there are better bulbs on the market to less $ today, but I haven’t looked recently. For bulbs or light strips that I dim below this level or where I want color control, I use either Hue or LIFX.

[msgreenf]

I have done Philips off Amazon and been happy. Had 1 fail in 6 months and they sent me a 2 pack under warranty

[The Good Guy]

The following bulbs work great with C4 APD and Caseta dimmers:

A19: Cree and Feit (A19OM800LED)
PAR20/38: Hyperikon
MLV: Soraa are good but expensive. I personally prefer GEs Halogen.

[turls]

Just replaced some A19 100w and 60w equivalent bulbs that were originally expensive Philips bulbs bought most likely off of Amazon 5-7 years ago.  Got some Feit from Ace and GE from Walmart.  Both work fine, even on previous C4 dimmers.  In fact, dim better than the Philips did, so I concur with what Ryan says above...I probably need to see if Philips will warranty them but I doubt it.

EDIT: got a response from Philips, and the hoops you have to jump through on a warranty claim are insane.  Take a picture of the light fixture?