Why are dimmable LED lightbulbs not suitable for use with dimmers?
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Regular dimmers use a simple electronic circuit which powers itself by stealing a bit of power from the bulb. They require a certain bulb power to work otherwise the dimmer’s share isn’t enough to power the circuit and it doesn’t work right – the bulb flashes or pulses instead of dims.
More advanced dimmers use a better circuit which is more complicated but is able to work better with low power bulbs.
There is a separate problem with LED bulbs which is that they contain an electronic regulator to ensure that the Leds light at the correct brightness. These expect a specific voltage and will malfunction if you use a regular dimmer.
Dimmable LED bulbs contain a modified regulator which is able to detect the action of a dimmer switch, and automatically adjust to a dimmer mode when it detects a dimmer altering the power voltage.
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