singing light bulbs

[electricalperson]

did anybody ever hear lightbulbs sing when they are dimmed using a cheap dimmer? i wonder what causes this?

 

[peter d]

Cheap light bulbs is what causes it.

Try 130 volt or rough service lamps to alleviate this problem, or any lamp with one or more filament supports should do the trick.

 

[480sparky]

This is caused by the lamp filament vibrating as the dimmer rapidly switches the lamp on and off. Lamp hum is generally noisiest at the mid-range [50%] dimming level. If this happens use rough service lamps [sometimes called garage door opener or appliance bulbs], physically smaller lamps, or lower wattage lamps.

Upgrading to a quality, or even electronic, dimmer is a better solution.

Here's an interesting read on the subject.

 

[electricalperson]

im going to replace the dimmer with a better one. the one thats installed is a cheap dimmer from home depot. theres skylark dimmers in the other parts of the house that dont do it

 

[SEO]

Changing the dimmer is ok but it's probably going to be a bulb change out.