Hunter fan/ light switch- no leds?

[jdsac]

I have hunter fans controlled by the hunter slide switch on the wall, the one that has 2 slides that control fan speed and dim the lights. The lights are candelabra based incandescent and dim properly.

Question- hunter says their dimmer won't work with dimmable led's , but can't explain why. Why can't they if the leds are dimmable? Can't seem to find an answer- thanks.

 

[handyman85]

This is a common issue with led lighting. Traditional dimmers, as found with fans with incandescent lighting, rely on a potentiometer to introduce impedance, or resistance, into the circuit to lower the voltage supplied to the light. Incandescent lighting and most dimmable CFLs can utilize this lower voltage. Their output lumens can be charted and the resulting graph would look like a smooth curve (analog)

Led lights rely on a digital processor, known as a driver, to process the voltage into a usable output for the light emitting diode. On smaller lighter, this driver is built into the light while larger lights have the driver as a separate device (similar to a ballast). Dimmable LED lights operate on only a finite number of voltage inputs, or steps. It the light is supplied with exactly the right voltage, the light output is dimmed accordingly. If the voltage lands in-between these steps, the driver can't efficiently handle the voltage and usually flickers. If you graphed the voltage to lumens it would look like a staircase.

They make dimmable switches for led lighting, but it's usually tailor made for the specific brand light/driver and results are hit or miss.

Hope this helps,
Dave

 

[jdsac]

Makes sense- question, would it hurt anything to try leds on the off chance they work or is there a potential problem with the dimmer safety wise?

 

[alfredeneuman]

This is a common issue with led lighting. Traditional dimmers, as found with fans with incandescent lighting, rely on a potentiometer to introduce impedance, or resistance, into the circuit to lower the voltage supplied to the light. Incandescent lighting and most dimmable CFLs can utilize this lower voltage.

Rheostats (potentiometers) are a thing of the past.

Modern dimmers use semiconductors like SCRs (Silicon Controlled Rectifiers) to do dimming chores.

 

[ard]

Rheostats (potentiometers) are a thing of the past.

Modern dimmers use semiconductors like SCRs (Silicon Controlled Rectifiers) to do dimming chores.

Oh, so does that mean his post was incorrect- and that SCRs work with LEDs??????

Or is it 'no, they still don't work with LEDs, I wanted to show off?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Rather than writing a novel on the topic, the answer is it will function with dimmable screw base LED bulbs. Some will buzz, some will flicker, some will be just fine. Hunter isn't going to endorse it cause standard leading edge triac dimmers are not made to handle the inrush current of LED bulbs, thus dimmer life will be shortened. Trailing edge dimmers are made for LEDs to fix this problem.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Makes sense- question, would it hurt anything to try leds on the off chance they work or is there a potential problem with the dimmer safety wise?

The way LED bulbs are dimmed is completely different than the way incandescent bulbs are dimmed.

Short answer to your question of "will it hurt" is that it will shorten the life of your LED bulbs, cause buzzing, flicking and poor lightning.

Why not spend a couple of bucks and change the wall dimmer control to one that is made for LED? Incandescent bubs are not coming back in style; no need to keep the old dimmers in your house.

 

[cybrdyke]

I have hunter fans controlled by the hunter slide switch on the wall, the one that has 2 slides that control fan speed and dim the lights.

Good luck finding a 2-slide wall switch where one side controls the Hunter fan and the other side is rated to control LED lamps.

If it were mine, I'd just keep the incandescent lamps in there. I've got bigger fish to fry.

Good luck,
CD

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Hunter makes a control for it. #99375

 

[CJ7VFR]

I have the same fan light/speed dimmer control on one of the ceiling fans in my spare bedroom. The fan is a Harbor Breeze model that I got either at Home Depot or Lowes.

I had the original incandescent candelabra bulbs that it came with in it for awhile, then replaced those with CFL bulbs about 6 years ago. The CFL bulbs would dim, and worked fine, but it took a long time for the CFL's to come on full brightness.

So last year I replaced the CFL bulbs with Phillips brand dimmable LED candelabra bulbs. My old Harbor Breeze fan control switch says it is only for incandescent/CFL bulbs, but that did not stop me from putting in the LED's.

For the past year the LED bulbs have worked great. As already mentioned, if you put the dimmer switch in just the right spot you can see the LED's flicker a little. But all you have to do is move the dimmer switch a tiny bit and the flickering stops.

I can now dim the light in the fan from full bright to just barely seen. I could not do that before with the CFL's. The CFL's would only dim down about 75 percent and then shut off.

I say put the bulbs in there and see what happens. Best case scenario is that they work great, they last a long time, and you will get the enjoyment of a dimmable light that suits your needs.

Worst case is that they flicker, or don't work, and they might burn out fast. But until you try it, you will never know how long they will last. I was told mine would not last more than a month or so because the dimmer was not LED approved. But so far that has not been the case.

Jim

 

[cybrdyke]

Worst case is that they flicker, or don't work, and they might burn out fast. But until you try it, you will never know how long they will last. I was told mine would not last more than a month or so because the dimmer was not LED approved. But so far that has not been the case.

Jim

As you said....it's the DIMMER that's not LED approved.

Worst case scenario is that you fry the dimmer and then who knows what else...
True story: I retrofitted an old chandelier that had 24 40-watt incandescent candle lamps in it. That's 960 watts total. They were on a 1000 watt max Lutron Nova dimmer, an industry workhorse.
I used 3 watt LED lamps for a total of 72 watts.
You see, most folks are concerned about how the lamps are operating. What they dont know is that the dimmer is designed for resistive loads. LED is a capacitive load, and all that capacitance adds up, even though the watts are very small. The 1000w Lutron couldn't handle all that capacitance and started pumping out black smoke very quickly. We were able to shut it off quickly, but not before the face plate and slider knob were melted.
So, lets be cautious when we experiment with things that aren't meant to go together!
CD

 

[CJ7VFR]

24 3 watt LED lamps is going to put out a lot more capacitance than the 3 or 4 LED bulbs he is talking about using in his fan.

Your situation was putting out well over 8 times the amount of capacitance that he will be seeing in his fan. In his case, I don't see a problem with putting the dimmable LED lights in his fan, just like I did. I am not saying that what I did was right or wrong, but it worked, and has worked for over a year now.

Now, if you were talking about putting 24 LED lights on a single dimmer, like you did, well then, that is definitely another story!

Jim