soopa

I recently converted the bulk of the switches in the house to dimmers (using Leviton's remote controllable Vizia RF Z-Wave network). They're working out awesome for the most part, most of the rooms have halogen high hats.

In certain locations though we have fixtures with regular old incandescent bulbs... and they "whine". If I dim them any less than 80% they sound awful.

What kind of bulbs can I put in these fixtures to combat the whining?

CFL's aren't an option. For one, most aren't dimmable. Two, they are slow to warm up and have an awful color. I have CFL's in all of our "utility" type rooms... but I won't use them in any room where the lighting is used to set scenes.

Are there any other options? Quiet incandescents?

svtmike

I have a lot of dimmers in my place (using Lutron Maestro dimmers) and have never noticed my bulbs making noise. I use Phillips Halogenas, Phillips fan bulbs, and whatever 65W can lights Costco is carrying.

Then again I am a little older than you and it could be that the bulbs are whining likes sons of bitches and I just can't hear them!

soopa

Actually that's a good point. I pointed the noise out to an older (37) friend and he looked at me like I said I hear voices.

Nonetheless, those Philips Halogenas look like they might be the ticket...

More energy efficient than incandescent, familiar halogen light output, fully dimmable... and hopefully noiseless. I'll try them out.

As I said, I've had no trouble with noise from our halogen recessed lighting even when dimmed to only 5%.

phil2

holy shit...roney is that old?

doopstr

Lamp Debuzzing Coils

Sarlacc

ballasts?

soopa

not roney. roney is like 34 now i think. he can barely here himself speak so i wouldn't bother asking his opinion about a little high pitched background noise..

soopa

interesting. thanks...

Retardedly expensive though. http://www.ylighting.com/ln-ldc-10-tcp.html

Big too. Wouldn't really work for me since they need to be paired with each dimmer.


I'll try those standard bulb style halogens today and report back. Was at Lowes last night and totally forgot

svtmike

The little 60W rough service lamps (packed as they mention as garage door opener bulbs or fan bulbs) are what I use where I need a smaller bulb than the Halogenas.

soopa

I'll pick up some of them too. 60W is perfect.

BubbaMarkTL

you really like that Leviton system? As an architect with experience in many systems both residential and commercial, Lutron is typically preferred to Leviton products...the Lutron Aurora system is what many high-end residental projects are getting over the Leviton. Lutron's commercial packages are second to none, thats for sure.

Sarlacc

I installed lutron dimmers in most of the rooms in the condo. In the living room I installed the one the the remote.

Most of the in home lighting (living room, hall ways, kitchen) are all recessed lighting with the floodlight style light bulbs that are 65W. I have no issues. And I tend to have them all the way down to about 10% when I watch a movie, or the lady is sleeping.

I havent had any issues, no hum or frequency noise.

soopa

The Leviton Vizia RF system is relatively new, less than a year old. I can't imagine many builders have had the opportunity to try it out.

I chose Vizia for a few reasons.

1.) Z-Wave. Rather than using a proprietary wireless protocol they're using the standardized Z-Wave protocol. This means interoperability with tons of devices from tons of manufacturers. For example, from my Logitech Harmony remote I can control all my lighting, my garage doors, and my miniblinds. Z-Wave brings me to point #2 as well.

2.) 2-way communication & Mesh networking. Every single switch/device in my house can talk to each other and pass commands to one another. This means I can turn off basement lights from my bedroom and receive confirmation that they've turned off on my remote... all without the need for a central antenna like with Lutron's system. Each switch can receive & send RF signals.

3.) Versatility. As I pointed out, I can pick up a multitude of devices from different manufacturers to integrate with the system. I can completely customize the system to my needs.

4.) Whole-house lighting. I have over 50 wireless dimmers & switches in my system. This isn't feasible with Lutron's system "packages". So far as I know with Aurora you have to buy whole-system packages of 5-switches. If you want more than that you have to keep buying "systems" and "bridging" them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems clunky.

5.) Customization. With Vizia I can configure a nearly infinite number of scenes & lighting profiles with FULL control of EVERY switch in the house. You have full control of every dimmer from 0-100%, no "stepping".

6.) Integration. My lighting integrates with my Home Theater, Security System, & Home Automation software. There's not many (if any) other complete standalone lighting packages which allow for this. Most others have to pair to proprietary devices.

6.) Design. The Vizia switches are elegant and easy-to-use. I much prefer the design of Vizia compared to Aurora. Besides the aesthetics which I'll illustrate below I find them to be well thought out. First for the normal person walking into my house they instantly know how to use them. Anyone can easily turn lights off & on without having to ponder their usage. Each switch also features a full suite of LED's... a bar to tell you your current or last dim level... and an LED to tell you if the load is off or on (great for outdoor or garage lighting in particular).

Lutron (Dimmer, Remote, Wall Controller):


Leviton (Dimmer, Remote, Wall Controller):

soopa

Again, same. No issues with recessed lighting, halogens, floods, etc.

The issue is standard incandescent bulbs make noise when dimmed. Not the fault of the switches as illustrated by those here who pointed out that we would need "rough service" (or incandescent alternatives) in order to dim incandescents without filament vibration.

Sarlacc

Ah ah, ok I know exactly what youre talking about now.

Only place I have regular incandescents on dimmers is in the ceiling fan in my bedroom. But I dont remember the wattage of the bulbs in them...either 2 75W or 60W. So, no hum in those.

soopa

Lowes doesn't carry Phillips so I picked up a pair of GE Edison Halogens, and a pair of GE Reveal Halogens. Sad to report both make even more noise than incandescent. In fact the reveals are even noisy at full power.

I may hit up Home Depot later for some halogenas. I wanted to avoid rough service bulbs in one particular bathroom fixture since the bulbs themselves are quite visible.

Also the rough service bulbs are ridiculously expensive for being incandescent... $6.47/pc at Lowes.

Will Y.

Here's an idea- go to the 99Cent store, Big Lots or Dollar Store and get a pack of 4 no-name light bulbs. Try those to see if they have any whine.

We bought no-name bulbs (current ones are "Sunbeam," previously had Feit Electric, etc.) for lights on dimmer switches in a couple of rooms as well as two touch lamps. The two touch lamps (3 light levels with a standard incandescent) we have did have a whine with the GE Soft ?? and Phillips bulbs, but not with the no-name bulbs. The lights on dimmer switches have never whined, though- I think they are 10+ year old Lutrons, with a power button, slide adjuster and no remote.