Hello,

Any assistance here would be appreciated. I had my basement finished recently and the electrician is unfortunately not currently available to help with this issue (not his fault).

He installed a Lutron Caséta dimmer (part PD-6WCL-XX) for a circuit with six LED bulbs. The bulbs are Ecosmart R20 soft white 12w/75w equivalents. Ecosmart lists Caséta dimmers as recommended, and the Caséta site lists similar Ecosmart bulbs as well, but not the exact same ones. The combined wattage of the bulbs are within spec for the dimmer.

The issue is that these bulbs flicker on all but the highest setting on the dimmer. At full power, they don’t flicker visibly. As soon as you drop to approximately 85-90% and below, they start flickering. Based on suggestions I’ve read online, I’ve tried both removing a bulb as well as replacing a bulb with an incandescent. Neither affected the flickering. I’ve also swapped in a different set of the same six Ecosmart bulbs that I already had with the same result.

Does anyone have a suggestion on bulbs that won’t flicker? Or is there something else I can check? I quite like the Caséta switches and have them in other rooms in the house, so I’d really like to keep those.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Flickering is a sure sign that the dimmer and bulbs are not compatible. You can try other brands and see if they will dim properly for you. I have had the best luck using a trailing edge dimmer. (Electronic low voltage dimmer)

 

Those Casetas are kind of cool looking. I've had the best results with the Maestro MA-CL dimmer.
You're going to have to try different bulbs. Pick up one of each type to try.

 

So to test with just one of another bulb type, would I remove the others? Or would I need them in to test properly? I’m just thinking it might be hard to tell if the new one is flickering if the other five are.

 

Normall LED bulbs do not flicker, unless they are using the improper dimming system. Some dimmers would increase and decrease the voltage (hence brightness) periodically to achieve "dimming", so actually the brightness goes up and down periodically.

 

I have a similar problem with an outside flood light. But the flood lite is also a motion activated light. I suspect the Lutron is not compatible with the motion control.

Be sure the bulbs you're using clearly state that they are dimmable. Look at the ballast not the box. If they don't state it they are not dimmible.

 

LEDs have only 2 states, on or off. To dim LEDs in LED bulbs, a compatible electronic driver (dimmer) is used. The dimmer either modulates the voltage or controls the current. The problem for consumers is the industry hasn't developed specification standards making the marriage of LED bulbs and dimmers a crap shoot. Even if you have a good marriage, a divorce may be in the future when you replace a current LED bulb with one by another manufacturer. Sorry, no easy solution.

 

Okay, so that sounds like it would flicker with just one installed, which will make it easier to test. Excellent, thanks for the info everyone.

 

There should be an adjustment dial on the dimmer. Turn it until you do not get flicker IIRC.

 

Just in case anyone comes along with the same question and reads this later, I replaced the bulbs with 45 watt equivalent Philips R20 bulbs and the flickering is completely gone. They’re definitely not as bright as the 75 watt equivalent Ecosmart bulbs, but Philips doesn’t seem to make an R20 that’s any brighter. Fortunately the Philips is still bright enough for the room.

 

Will a standard bulb fit that location. I have a couple of 6" cans that used to have small floods in them and I just installed regular LED bulbs and the housing provides the desired flood effect. I also have a pole light behind me and checked the bulb in that and it is a 60 watt Phillips 5000K and stays on 24/7. I unscrewed it with my fingers and barely warm. Don't know when it was purchased.

Bud

 

LEDs don't flicker. The electronic controller is either lengthening the LED off time or shortening the LED on time as you move the dimmer control. Below some ratio, the mind sees it as a flicker

 

I have a lot of experience with Caséta dimmers as I've put them in my last 2 houses and have tested countless bulbs to make sure I've had the best performance. Couple thoughts based off your scenario...

1) In general, I've had the best luck with Philips bulbs, so I would try a couple of theirs first to see if you get the dimming performance you want.

2) The last time I tried to find the "perfect" LED can light for a Caséta dimmer, I failed miserably and had to use regular incandescents. Granted, this was 2 years ago (my current house doesn't have cans) and LED technology has improved, so if you find one, please report it back here.

3) No matter what bulb you end up with, you will almost certainly need to adjust the low end trim from its default setting. It's easy to do, just google the steps.

4) If all else fails, consider swapping your dimmer for the Caséta PD-5NE-BL. This is the model that requires a neutral wire (yours does not) and because of its multi-phase dimming options, has more compatibility. I had to use one in conjunction with some under cabinet LED's and they work great now.