Can anyone recommend an LED light bulb that actually works with the fan and light switch (LZW36)?
But I mean something that “fully works”.
When the documentation states it is compatible with LED bulbs it doesn’t mention any exception so it one can assume it is fully compatible, ramp rates, dimming and so on.
However… after spending a small fortune on light bulbs I couldn’t find a single one.
Inovelli doesn’t offer an official list of light bulbs that “passed rigorous testing” in their own labs instead, there is a community maintained list.
Every bulb I tested so far presented issues, included some from the community list and this one mentioned by someone on Amazon when posting a good review for the LZW36.
The person said this is the only one that worked for him.
However, during my tests it flickers a little bit when turning it on.
This goes away if I set ramp rate to 0 but then… it means the bulb is not fully compatible, right?
Not to mention I’m loosing functionality.
Other than that, sometimes when dimming it will start flickering like crazy.
The fact that Inovelli cannot name a single bulb that is guaranteed to work stress free is kind of troublesome, isn’t it? If you can’t find that one bulb you can’t claim it is “compatible with LEDs”. It might work with LED but… not everyone is willing to pay premium price for well below average performance.
I have 2 units by the way and one was already replaced so or I am lucky enough to get 3 deflective units - even the one that came as a replacement and I was told was tested by support - or… I am right when I say it will never work.
I do wish I’m wrong though.
I really appreciate if someone can provide me with a candelabra led bulb that will support:
Smooth ramp rate (the fade in and out effect when turning on and off)
Thanks but as I mentioned, i tested the ones from the community list already.
If I remember it right, the list had less than 5 candelabra, warm white bulbs for the LZW36.
From what I can tell, if it lights up… people are considering it compatible
Ah. Missed that. I don’t have the fan and light switch. I have the 60W GE Relax installed in several fixtures controlled by LZW31-SN and LZW30-SN. I don’t have any flickering and the dimming is fairly linear. IIRC power on is ~25% with the dimmer. Also all of my switches have neutrals.
I have those with LZW31 and they do work ok.
But… the dimmer inside LZW36 is not the same as the LZW31 so bulbs compatible with one may not be compatible with the other.
For the record, I tested both, the ones from your link and the candelabra version:
They both will flicker when turning on and off if ramp rate is set. Also, sometimes they will start flickering really bad after you dim them up or down.
Just adding it here for additional reference.
A quote from some Leviton documentation:
Reverse phase controls can potentially improve LED
performance due to the MOSFET control and inclusion of the
neutral wire. Some potential performance improvements
include: Reduced LED flicker, improved dimming range and
reduced audible noise.
LZW36 uses MOSFET (as I was told).
There are lots of documents out there suggesting it should improve LED bulb experience which makes me wonder what is wrong.
And while I’m sound liking a crazy person talking to myself …
Another good reference:
Lutron’s LED product selection.
I went there and specifically searched for LED bulbs tested with Reverse phase dimmers in the past 2 years.
And there it is, the same GE Relax bulb from Lowes that won’t work with the LZW36. It works with a few of Lutron’s reverse phase dimmers (MOSFET) from from 2% to 100%.
And knowing Lutron we all know they wouldn’t considered it passed a test if it was flickering all over.
Lutron search page:
The point here is that the light bulbs I’ve been testing are supposed to work.
From @EricM_Inovelli on an old post where apparently people are talking about similar issues:
So this is something that I have really pressed the firmware team on and the response I have received is that it is a hardware limitation […]
Having said that, there are varying bulbs that may perform better with the device than others. So your experience may be different from other users.
If you’re having issues with bulbs that others have tested without issues, it becomes difficult to say the problem is your switch. The issue is more likely how your fixture distributes power to the bulbs in it.
The issue could also be one of expectations. If you’re expecting LED bulbs in a multi-bulb fixture to dim down to 2%… good luck! You will be searching for years. This is a limitation in the technology in LED bulbs (This explains it better than I ever could: Understanding LED bulbs and the challenges of dimming them - AGW Technologies). In fact most bulbs won’t even dim below 30%. These bulbs will still have the same issue on a dumb dimmer switch.
If you’re trying to ramp up and down from 0-100% on a bulb that can only get down to 30%, you’re going to get flicker along the way. And a bulb that can get down to 30% may only be able to go to 35% on a multi-bulb fixture because the power is split. I use cheap costco bulbs throughout the house, they dim up and down smoothly with the lzw36 but I took the time to adjust the settings to the capabilities of the bulbs. If you want that 2% dim, you shouldn’t be using LED’s.
I was able to find something that “works”.
If you look close you will notice a little bump towards the end of the ramp up (while tunring it on) but again: only if you are standing there and looking for it.
If we consider incandescent experience 100%, I will give this one a 97% because of the ramp up. Everything else is great (as far as LED goes).
Here it is in case someone comes across this thread looking for an LZW36 compatible bulb:
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