Is there an LED bulb that is "safe" for garage door openers?

[dragonballz]

I have 2 WLB8550 openers. The instructions say to only use incandescent bulbs. I want LEDs for the brightness and power savings. Is there an LED bulb that will work?

I want light so I can see when I back into my garage.

Thanks

 

[wssix99]

Your opener needs the load of the incandescent bulb. You can add resistance to fool any device into thinking the bulb is incandescent, but you'll just end up burning as much heat and electricality as you would with an actual incandescent bulb - and you'll spend more money. (So, it would undermine what you wanted the LED for.)

 

[dogdog]

I just saw these on the my local Homedepot clearance piles this past Sunday... weird this thread shows up, but apparently there are such a thing... who knew. I think the clearance price was $7 or something. No experience with it, I don't have a garage door opener, I am the garage door opener.

Genie GLEDB2-R2 2 Pack Garage Door Opener LED LIGHT BULB, 4000K - - Amazon.com

Genie GLEDB2-R2 2 Pack Garage Door Opener LED LIGHT BULB, 4000K - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[rsparks64]

I tried leds and they interfered with the remote controls

 

[APEowner]

Your opener needs the load of the incandescent bulb. You can add resistance to fool any device into thinking the bulb is incandescent, but you'll just end up burning as much heat and electricality as you would with an actual incandescent bulb - and you'll spend more money. (So, it would undermine what you wanted the LED for.)

I question this. Why would this be the case? I think RF interface is a more likely reason for requiring incandescent bulbs.

 

[like2wheel]

I question this. Why would this be the case? I think RF interface is a more likely reason for requiring incandescent bulbs.

I agree with this.

I have an opener that says use only incandescent bulbs, & yet I have no bulbs installed.
Been fine for years.

 

[glennm]

I have leds in mine (liftmaster) and no issues

 

[tyme2par4]

I had gotten some of the Genie LED bulbs at a trade show and had them in my openers. They worked well.
I had a cheaper LED in one of them, and it definitely decreased the range of my remote.

 

[JRC3]

OK, I've pondered this long enough...

How can a bulb that has no power to it, like when it's just stiing there off for hours before you get home, iterfere with the signal? When you get home and hit the remote button does it not start the opening process as it turns on the light? I mean the signal has already been recieved before the light even has power. I could see it interfering when you leave and the safety sensors trip the light on, but how on Earth can it interfere as you're coming home? The up command is usually when you need the distance so you don't have to wait for the door to open. The down you hit when you are really close as you pull out to leave, you aren't pulling out to the street and then calling for it to go down.

 

[APEowner]

OK, I've pondered this long enough...

How can a bulb that has no power to it, like when it's just stiing there off for hours before you get home, iterfere with the signal? When you get home and hit the remote button does it not start the opening process as it turns on the light? I mean the signal has already been recieved before the light even has power. I could see it interfering when you leave and the safety sensors trip the light on, but how on Earth can it interfere as you're coming home? The up command is usually when you need the distance so you don't have to wait for the door to open. The down you hit when you are really close as you pull out to leave, you aren't pulling out to the street and then calling for it to go down.

I suspect the problem is when you open the door to pull out and then try and close it once you've left.

 

[cybrdyke]

OK, I've pondered this long enough...

How can a bulb that has no power to it, like when it's just stiing there off for hours before you get home, iterfere with the signal? When you get home and hit the remote button does it not start the opening process as it turns on the light? I mean the signal has already been recieved before the light even has power. I could see it interfering when you leave and the safety sensors trip the light on, but how on Earth can it interfere as you're coming home? The up command is usually when you need the distance so you don't have to wait for the door to open. The down you hit when you are really close as you pull out to leave, you aren't pulling out to the street and then calling for it to go down.

Like you said, the interference is when the light has been turned on. It cant interfere when you press the button to open the door because it's not on. It can interfere when the door is open and the light is on and you press the button to close it.
There are plenty of people who have their opener light wired so that it can be "on" when they're working in the garage, whether the door is open or closed. For those people, the light can interfere with ANY operation of the door.
CD

 

[dragonballz]

Does the interference have to do with the proximity of the LED to the opener or does it have to do with the LED being on the same internal circuit?

 

[APEowner]

Does the interference have to do with the proximity of the LED to the opener or does it have to do with the LED being on the same internal circuit?

I'm guessing it's both. LEDs can generate a ton of both backway noise on the powerline and radiate a bunch of RF. Some are worse than others and there are probably some that work just fine.

 

[cybrdyke]

Does the interference have to do with the proximity of the LED to the opener or does it have to do with the LED being on the same internal circuit?

It's Radio Frequency Interference, so proximity of lamp to receiver in the opener.

 

[Stuey]

Yes. I use a standard bulb in one opener with no ill effects, and installed a Sylvania bulb to my new opener. I'll be putting one in the other opener when I get the chance.

Some brands have compatibility charts, e.g. https://support.chamberlaingroup.co...-I-use-in-my-garage-door-opener-1484145692747

 

[couch67]

Yes I'm sure the blanket statement to not use LED bulbs is a CYA by the manufacturer as the quality of LED bulbs widely vary, and they cannot test them all. And when the door opener doesnt work, no one is going to think its the bulb causing the issue.

 

[tyme2par4]

The other issue that hasn't been mentioned is vibration. Not as bad with new belt drive openers, but high vibration can be hard on cheap LED bulbs.

 

[Forgottonia]

It's a bit hard to find incandescent bulbs these days. But you can still get them at many Salvation Army and Goodwill stores. If they don't have them for sale just ask the manager if he'll save back some for you to buy. That's how I get them.

 

[65ranchero]

But is it really a problem for the short amount of time the GDO light is really on?
Yes , as others have said there are LED bulbs available but just to replace them because it's "green" is a non for me.
May be when they are no longer working I might replace them. but that's a long time in between!

 

[Raisedonadeere]

There are LED bulbs that have less RF emission. I googled the subject and found some bulbs that worked after experiencing the remote control problems. I forget the name of the bulb but it was some line of Phillips. There are others. Sorry I don't know exact bulb.

 

[glend123]

I have regular led bulbs in mine and have not had any problems.

 

[jlv03]

Lowe's has some garage door opener specific LED lights:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Garage-Door-60-Watt-EQ-A19-Daylight-LED-Light-Bulb/1000723576

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Garage-Light-100-Watt-EQ-A19-Daylight-LED-Light-Bulb-2-Pack/5000197441

 

[dragonballz]

But is it really a problem for the short amount of time the GDO light is really on?
Yes , as others have said there are LED bulbs available but just to replace them because it's "green" is a non for me.
May be when they are no longer working I might replace them. but that's a long time in between!

Good point. My light is set for 4 minutes on. A 100 watt LED replacement is about 14 watts. At 2 bulbs each opener, that's 28 watts LED vs 200 watts incandencent. I dont know how much $$$ that is in $avings

 

[lml999]

When I changed *cars* I immediately ran into a problem with LED/HomeLink interference. The HomeLink in the new (to me) car would open the door (as the light was off) but would not close the door (light was on). My fix was to change brand/type of bulbs. I went with a dimmable bulb, as some googling suggesting this might work. And it did.

 

[Falcon67]

Our Craftsman belt drive is about 10 years old - I have LED bulbs in it and have no issues with cheap Home Depot remotes, in car, etc.

 

[Jinks]

Two garage doors, one belt, one chain. I installed LED bulbs in both. They *may* be dim-able 'cause I use a lot of dim-able LED's, but I haven't had any problem with them not working or the doors opening or closing.........

 

[ambenz]

I screwed in a outlet socket into where the bulb screws in and connected two 4 foot LED shop lights to my opener without any issues.