LED replacement bulbs. Interference? Studio lighting

[Beingbing]

Our studio has been open for a year. All the PAR 20 bulbs in track and recessed lighting are burning out NOW. I change one every day...It's fun!
I'm trying to decide if replacing these with LED bulbs is a good idea. They're way more efficient, still dimmable, have way longer life, and they put off less heat than halogen. Our energy bill would drop substantially. The color temperature is generally a little cooler with LEDs, but not enough to make the place feel cold.

My main concern is the possible problem of RF interference that comes with the switching power supplies in these LEDs. I've read about people not being able to use baby monitors, AM or FM radios, and TV's once they've installed these new bulbs in their homes. I understand that this is RF and not AF. We're not broadcasting, nor using 2 way radios, but I'm wondering if this can cause problems in other equipment that use high frequencies...computers, bias oscillators in tape machines...

Has anyone brought these into their studio? Has anyone heard of interference problems in studio settings from LED lighting?

[goose134]

While I cannot speak to the RF noise aspect of the lamps, I will tell you that is imperative that you get an LED compatible dimmer. Lutron makes them for this purpose. Your lamp life will be increased and you'll be happier for it.

In addition to that a good many premature lamp failures can be attributed to a few things: 1 poor lamp quality. Buy good PAR lamps and use a good dimmer on them, and they should last a good long time.

2. Incorrect dimmer on load.
If you have low voltage fixtures, be advised that different dimmers are needed based on the transformer. Magnetic LV and Electronic LV dimmers are quite a bit more expensive than normal dimmers but will extend the life of the lamp and not burn up the transformer, the dimmer, or both.

3. Improper or incorrect circuiting.
Double fed circuits and overloaded neutrals will also cause premature lamp failure.

I installed low voltage MR-16 cans in a few rooms in my house and in 6 years, I've changed exactly 2 lamps. It can be done.

[Scodiddly]

I doubt it's a big problem. You could always buy one, stick it in a portable lamp, and wave it around various pieces of gear. If you've already been using incandescent lamps with solid state dimmers you're probably seeing the worst noise possible anyway.

Since there isn't a heat problem, if you find interference you could just put metal mesh screen around the bulbs to stop any RF from radiating.

[Beingbing]

The dimmers we have on the par 20s in the live room and control room are variacs. We have one SCR dimmer in the lounge (close to live room). I've seen situations where the noise from the SCR dimmer is audible in amps/mic lines. I might eventually switch this to a variac.

I've put one in to test with the variac and it dims nicely, no buzzing or flickering. At the lowest end of the dimming, it reaches a point where the light cuts off completely. I think the one I'm testing with is rated to dim down to 5% output.

I'm going to test some preamps with and without chassis shielding with an oscilloscope to look for high frequency noise in the audio range with the LED lamps nearby.

[crow]

The LED bulbs I've seen so far are a little too "strobey" for my taste; are there any that don't flicker so much? I'd love to go LED, but haven't seen many kinds of LED bulb.

[bluesman]

Also make sure that you get a DIMMABLE LED....not all of them are, the ones that aren't strobe worse. Other LED's are designed to work in a specific position....one bulb for up one for down one for side mounting. Some cannot be mounted in a can because of heat shortening the live of the LED.
Do some research. The BIG brands like Sylvania & Phillips have some pretty great looking & performing products in LED lamps these days.

Always beware of the non brand...lots of these are very low quality or older technology that will not perform as well or may look very harsh....modern product from majoy manufacturers work well & can look very warm, very much like the old incandescent that we all used to love.