I first installed an SmartHome dimmer in my kitchen many many years ago. My kitchen had 11 BR25 60W incandescent cans/spots -- I had them on a a high-power Insteon dimmer for years. Worked perfectly.
About 5 years ago, I replaced the bulbs with BR25 dimmable LED lamps and immediately noticed that they all quickly blink/flash off-and-on several times an hour at random times. It's a small fraction of a second -- blink and you'll miss it.
I checked the wiring and then replaced the high-power dimmer with a 2476DH without any change. It wasn't frequent and was so brief, I just lived with it.
I have now replaced the ceiling lamps and cans with flat dimmable LED fixtures -- pulled the cans and these just sit in the ceiling with a separate junction box next to each lamp. These are working great, and I can tell Alexa to dim them to 5% via the Insteon switch and that actually works (the BR25 LED lamps would slowly flash and pulse if dimmed too low). Very pleased.
Unfortunately, they also blink/flash a few times and hour, but for some reason, it's much more noticeable than it was before. It seems to happen more often or maybe the duration is slightly longer.
I don't know if the blink is caused by Insteon traffic, or noise on the line from an appliance starting or some other temporary dip or power glitch. My guess is that it was always happening with this switch but the incandescent filaments didn't care.
The lights list a large number of compatible dimmers but Insteon isn't on the list. As I said, dimming does work perfectly. It's the blink/flash that's annoying -- several times an hour.
I'm definitely willing to replace the switch if there is a newer model that handles LED lighting better. Any advice on what to do would be most welcome. It's become annoying enough (and concerning for an electrician working on a kitchen remodel) that I need to do something about it and really don't want to switch to something else.
Thanks!
About 5 years ago, I replaced the bulbs with BR25 dimmable LED lamps and immediately noticed that they all quickly blink/flash off-and-on several times an hour at random times. It's a small fraction of a second -- blink and you'll miss it.
I checked the wiring and then replaced the high-power dimmer with a 2476DH without any change. It wasn't frequent and was so brief, I just lived with it.
I have now replaced the ceiling lamps and cans with flat dimmable LED fixtures -- pulled the cans and these just sit in the ceiling with a separate junction box next to each lamp. These are working great, and I can tell Alexa to dim them to 5% via the Insteon switch and that actually works (the BR25 LED lamps would slowly flash and pulse if dimmed too low). Very pleased.
Unfortunately, they also blink/flash a few times and hour, but for some reason, it's much more noticeable than it was before. It seems to happen more often or maybe the duration is slightly longer.
I don't know if the blink is caused by Insteon traffic, or noise on the line from an appliance starting or some other temporary dip or power glitch. My guess is that it was always happening with this switch but the incandescent filaments didn't care.
The lights list a large number of compatible dimmers but Insteon isn't on the list. As I said, dimming does work perfectly. It's the blink/flash that's annoying -- several times an hour.
I'm definitely willing to replace the switch if there is a newer model that handles LED lighting better. Any advice on what to do would be most welcome. It's become annoying enough (and concerning for an electrician working on a kitchen remodel) that I need to do something about it and really don't want to switch to something else.
Thanks!
Comment