Ceiling lights on a dimmer - buzzing is driving me nuts

[flot]

Ok,

So I just installed some recessed lighting and a dimmer for said lighting into my bedroom.

However, as I turn the dimmer down, the lights start to buzz... and while at first I thought I could live with it, it really is pretty annoying.

So the questions:

1) Does this go away? (as the bulbs age / filaments weaken, perhaps?)
2) Should I blame the bulbs (switch to another manufacturer?) or the dimmer?

I understand what is happening - it is an electronic dimmer which basically pulses the electricity on and off, and the filaments in the bulbs are vibrating because of it. However, replacing the 4 bulbs will be about $15 or the dimmer about $15 so I'm just wondering which is worth trying to replace, or if it's one of those problems I'll have to deal with?

 

[T2T III]

This issue does not seem right. I have two sets of recessed lights and dimmers in my family room. Neither make a buzzing sound.

However, as some basic troubleshooting, you could try the following:

1) Replace the bulbs with some 40 watt regular incandescent bulbs - and see if the buzzing goes away. If it does, then the other bulbs could be causing the issue.

2) If switching the bulbs as in step #1 didn't eliminate the sound, try pulling out the dimmer switch and temporarily install a regular wall switch. Again, see if the buzzing goes away. If it does, then you might want to look for another dimmer.

Best of luck!

 

[AlienCraft]

Filament "sing" is also prevalent in $$ High Dollar Theatrical lighting rigs. You don't hear it because the lights are way overhead and there's lots of other noise.
Try putting normal bulbs in there and see if that makes a difference first. If so, try a different bulb. If not, try another dimmer, maybe a better quality one.
HTH

 

[flot]

Yeah, I'll try switching the bulbs out later this week... I only have ~8.5 foot ceilings, so I'm close enough to hear the 'singing'... (obviously they don't make any noise when at full brightness, but the whole point of the dimmer was to be able to dim them.)

My gut feeling is that there is more likely to be a difference between bulbs than dimmers, but thought maybe somebody would have firsthand suggestions... I'll see what other incandescent bulbs I can scare up and put in there in the meantime. They are R20 lights (4" cans) so I'm not entirely sure what will fit in there.

Obviously I bought 4 identical bulbs, and they were relatively $$ ... I'm going to be annoyed if that turns out to be the issue...

 

[syberscott]

Originally posted by: flot

I understand what is happening - it is an electronic dimmer which basically pulses the electricity on and off, and the filaments in the bulbs are vibrating because of it. However, the 4 bulbs were about $10 and the dimmer was about $10 so I'm just wondering which is worth trying to replace, or if it's one of those problems I'll have to deal with?

Actually, the dimmer is not pulsating the electricity on and off. The electricity is already doing that at a rate of 60 Hz. The dimmer is simply cutting off the width of each pulse.
I agree with replacing the bulbs. They are most likely the culprit.

 

[flot]

Oooohhhhh... so what you're saying is, it is basically pulsing the electricity on and off...?

Edit: Good diagram that agrees with both of us

Edit2: Online wisdom seems to be entirely contradictory on this one. Half the pages say that more expensive dimmers will contain extra circuitry to try to combat the singing, the other half suggest that often cheap bulbs are the problem... so I guess it's a toss up.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: flot
Oooohhhhh... so what you're saying is, it is basically pulsing the electricity on and off...?

 

[syberscott]

Originally posted by: flot
Oooohhhhh... so what you're saying is, it is basically pulsing the electricity on and off...?

Edit: Good diagram that agrees with both of us

Edit2: Online wisdom seems to be entirely contradictory on this one. Half the pages say that more expensive dimmers will contain extra circuitry to try to combat the singing, the other half suggest that often cheap bulbs are the problem... so I guess it's a toss up.

Please take a closer look at the diagram. The sine wave is already there. The dimmer just cuts the width of each positive and negative wave. This brings down the average voltage which in turn dims the lamp.
The buzzing can come from the bulb or the dimmer. If it's the dimmer then get a better quality dimmer. If it's the bulb then either get a new bulb or change the dimmer position.
Cheers.