Quote:
Originally Posted by StirCrazy
actually you will see a horrible flicker with the LEDs, and yes you see the flicker on a florescent, it is a bout a 50/50 toss up between people who it bothers and who it doesn't. I never knew it bothered me until I upgraded all my fluorescent to electronic ballasts now I really notice the 60 Hertz flicker on old fixtures. Digital or electronic florescent ballasts are why people don't see this flicker at all anymore as it raises the Hertz to 20,000 or higher. so old people like me who remember when electronic ballasts were a thing only the rich an famous could afford 
in the case of LEDs they show the flicker even more because they only produce light on one of the wave lengths of a cycle (where every other light uses both sides of the wave, so they are already off 1/2 the time on a ac signal, so this intensifies the 60 Hertz flicker.
you will have to be down to about 40 or 30 Hertz before an incandescent will show a noticeable flicker and for them they are not actually turning on and off but rather a slight dimming as the element cools. I have had a 40 watt bulb down to 25 Hertz and while after a bit it would be annoying, it was not really a flicker but rather it would dim and bright dim and bright, but fading between the two extremes not on off
Steve |
You have sensitive eyes then. I ran the 12 volt DC MR16 4 watt LEDs I got off both a 12 Volt AC wall wort & a 12 Volt DC one which is what they are currently running on. Did not see a flicker with the 12 VAC supply, but there was quite an audible 60 Hz buzz, so decided not to stay with that scenario, since there's no point trying to save power over my kitchen sink. Three MR16 bulbs at 4 watts each are already providing way more light than the 4 old halogen ones without having to run the LEDs on half cycle.
Ha, ha, since you notice the 60 Hz flicker of light fixtures, you'd really be knackered in Europe then, where they deliver the 220 Volt AC line power at only 50 Hz. You'd have a never ending headache from your lights.