Dimmer Lights Flickering

Emma2019

Hi All,

Apologies if this isn't the best place to post this.

I recently bought a house which despite being build it the 40s seems to be really well maintained. However, I've started to notice that the lights that have dimmer switches seem to flicker a bit. Is there anything I can do to stop this? I really love dimmer lights so would hate to have to change the switch mechanism.

Not sure if it is related but they left behind a lamp which seemed to be fine, but I got an electric shock off it once while switching it off. I would guess it's just a fault with the lamp but because of the dimmer lights flickering I am now convincing myself the whole house has to be rewired. Please tell me I'm wrong!

Thanks!

L1011

What type of bulbs do you have? And what type of dimmer?

Normal LED (or flourescent) bulbs with normal dimmers = flicker and eventually just die. You need specific dimmers and bulbs.

Emma2019

Ok that's interesting. How do I tell what type of dimmer? The switches just look like this:

switch.JPG

In terms of the bulbs, the survey did say that not all the bulbs were LED. There are three recessed lights in the sitting room and one was flickering badly so I switched the lightbulb out and I picked up an LED one that looks like this

light.JPG

L1011

You'd need to take it off the wall and see if it has any markings. Its almost certainly not a modern type one though and hence useless for LED.

That pic has two completely different types of bulbs that don't even run on the same voltage in it - which one are they?

I would recommend buying either new halogen bulbs (very cheap, but very high power consumption) and using with the existing dimmer; or if its the type of bulb on the left, going to IKEA and getting their LED smart versions of them and an IKEA dimmer; and get the wall dimmer switch replaced with a normal on/off switch.

The type on the right are 12V, there are no good LED replacements and flickering could be a failing transformer - they always fail, eventually, in my experience. In that case get the entire lot replaced.

Emma2019

Whoops, sorry it was the bulb on the left. From looking online it was a GU10? Sorry, I didn't keep the box and am currently laid up in bed so can't climb the ladder to take it back out to check.

Good to know on the ikea option, I never thought about smart bulbs.

To take the dimmer switch cover off should I turn the electricity off or is it relatively safe to just go at it?

Any idea on the cost of getting an electrician to change 4 light switches?

L1011

I wouldn't recommend looking under the switch unless you know what you're looking for basically (brand names, model names, so on) so don't bother. But power off before doing anything like that anyway.

Emma2019

Ok cool, looks like it's a call out for an electrician so. Thanks so much!