I have a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan with two light ports and a remote control. The lights are e12 (candelabra) base, but I need some brightness. I just bought some 12W LED bulbs (100w equivalent) and discovered something weird that I can work with, but I would like to know why it's happening. If I only have 1 bulb in, or if I have 2 LED, they don't work….but if I have 1 LED and one incandescent one, the LED works. I noticed that with just 1 LED, it seems to dimly pulse about every 2 seconds, but never comes on. I specifically bought dimmable bulbs….I'm curious why it works with an incandescent in there, but not otherwise
Lighting – LED Light in Ceiling Fan only works with a non-LED next to it
ceiling-fanlighting
Related Solutions
The two differences are
- Cost
- It can be dimmed with a standard dimmer
A standard dimmer reduces the RMS voltage going to a light to dim it; this may be done by a simple resistor or by chopping of the top of the waveform. So a dimmable LED lamp must be able to:
- Cope with a big range of input voltage including part formed sine waves, which isn't easy for the control logic.
- Detect from the input voltage the light level that the user wants, then give that light level.
It would be a lot better if a dimmer switch could send a digital signal (radio, or over the main wiring) to the lamp, so that the lamp could know what was required without reverse engineering the voltage back to the user's wishes. However this would need a new standard to be used by all switch and lamp vendors, so may take a little time-:)
Do you have the space for an adapter like this one?
Lighting EVER Candelabra Screw (E12) to Medium Screw (E26) Enlarger Light Bulb Socket Adapter
Q: I'm going to overload it by using a larger bulb ?
A:
Electrically you are limited to the maximum amperage that the wiring will support, if it is rated for a 75W 125V then that's 0.6 Amps each (Wattage = Voltage * Amperage). You're not changing the voltage or number of lamp so it doesn't quite matter (doing the numbers that is). You can do up to the same amount of actual Wattage used, which for LEDs would be significantly less.
Heatwise, the LEDs should produce significantly less heat than incandescent, just make sure you have at least 1/8" between the LED's bulb and the shade/globe/etc and you should be alright; incandescent should be more like >1/2".
- CFL Side Note The same electricity rules apply for CFLs (or anything, note CFLs do have a peak turning on but I doubt you'll find a 75 actual Wattage CFL to fit), but I'd increase the minimum gap for heat to about the same as in incandescent ~1/2". I've had a few cheaper lamps with CFLs burn/melt so I'm a little over cautious with CFL and proximity even though they should produce less heat than their incandescent Lumen- relative counterpart.
Q: The bulbs will be put in sideways; I hear many LED bulbs are unidirectional; what degree/angle should I be looking for?
A: For unidirectional light, you probably need to find one with a diffuser or multiple LEDs pointing in different directions. If you can see the individual LED(s), it will shine light in the opposite direction(s) it/they are mounted only so if they all point in the same direction it's unidirectional. If you can't see the individual LED(s) then it is probably diffused (though it may not be diffused well)
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Best Answer
LED bulbs work by using a power supply board (called a "driver) that converts your AC line to low voltage DC. The driver board takes very little power at first, then it excites the LED to make it glow and pulls a little more current. If your fixture uses solid state relays (SSRs) as the dimmer inside, those often require a minimum amount of current flow in order to function. If the LED driver current consumption is at or below that threshold, the SSR dimmer in the fixture fires, but will not stay on because there is not enough current flowing so it turns off again. When you add an incandescent bulb, you add enough current so that the SSR functions. This is what JPhi1618 meant when saying that the dimmer in the fan may not be compatible.