The ultimate compatibility guide for dimmable LED’s and CFL’s and the LightwaveRF dimmers. The following table lists LED’s and CFL’s that have been tested by members of the community and the results. This is a community driven list and your milage with different lamps may vary.
The columns have the following meaning:
Name, Retailer and Link.
Hopefully self explanatory.
Technology.
Whether the lamp tested is LED or CFL. If LED, whether it uses SMD’s (surface mounted LED’s) or discrete LED chips.
Fitting.
The fitting of the lamp. Examples: GU10, MR16, B22, ES (E27), SES (E14), etc
Stated Wattage.
The wattage claimed by the retailer. Note, this is not a good guide to brightness, but important when minimum loadings need to be considered.
Stated Lumens.
Wattage for non-incandescent lamps is not a good guide to brightness. Lumens is better.
Minimum Lamps.
The minimum number of lamps required on the circuit to make it work as expected. Subtle differences in manufacturing of the lamps and dimmers may mean you require more or less, but it should be a good guide as to whether 1, 2 or 20 lamps is required to stop the circuit misbehaving.
Tested With.
Important as the wall dimmers are trailing edge and the plug-in ones are leading edge. Different lamps prefer different dimmers.
Tested By, Tested When.
Should be self explanatory.
Works?
Most important of all. Did this tested configuration work? If not, what happened?
| Lamp | Retailer | Price (£) | Link | Technology | Fitting | Stated Wattage | Stated Lumens | Minimum lamps | Tested With | Tested By | Tested When | Works? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Watt GU10 LED Bulb - Wide Beam Angle (50 Watt Replacement) | LED Hut | 7.38 | Link | LED (SMD) | GU10 | 4W | 320 Lumens | 2 | Wall Dimmer | Chris | Yes | |
| 4.2W Dimmable Deluxe Biard LED Spotlight Bulb GU10 Base Equivalent To 50W 91% Energy Saving | Beam LED | 11.99 | Link | LED | GU10 | 4.2W | 320 Lumens | 4 | Wall Dimmer | Mattaturk | January 2013 | Yes |
| Varilight DigiFlux® Energy Saver+ Spiral Compact Fluorescent Lamp BC 20W | Screwfix | 9.49 | Link | CFL | BC | 20W | 1600 Lumens | 1 | Wall Dimmer | Nay | January 2013 | Yes |
| LightwaveRF Compatible Next Generation 60 Watt Equivalent GU10 LED Bulb | LED Hut | 9.75 | Link | LED (SMD) | GU10 | 4.5W | 360 Lumens | 1 | Wall Dimmer | Chris | March 2013 | Yes |
| *New* 5 Watt GU10 LED Bulb – Wide Beam Angle – 460 Lumens | LED Hut | 11.08 | Link | LED (SMD) | GU10 | 5W | 460 Lumens | 2 | Wall Dimmer | Coxy, Digital-Plumber, @justy101 | April 2013 | Yes |
ABOUT Chris
Chris works as a techie for a large IT service provider. He is a geek at heart and loves nothing more than trying to automate his home. The problem is, his wife simply doesn't get it and can't understand why they can't have 'normal' lights like everyone else! Chris is dedicated therefore to implementing automation in a family friendly way.
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