GE Lamp Module buzz

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

Greetings everyone!

I was wondering if someone might be able to explain something to me. I have a couple lamps in my home that, when plugged into a GE lamp module and dimmed, will create an annoying buzzing sound from the bulb (not the module).

Can someone explain why this happens? It’s definitely with my cheaper lights. Is there anything I can do about it other than replace those lights?

2

Lamp dimmers generally work their magic by interrupting the AC waveform partway through its cycle.
You can see a good explanation and graphic on Wikipedia, where it shows how the triac ‘slices up’ the sine wave of power delivery to the bulb.

This creates a whole lot of transients (noise) and abrupt changes in current.
I suspect the coils in the bulb’s filament is either magnetically responding or just cycling in temperature and shape, but it’s causing vibration at 60hz, with a lot of the noise coming through the bulb.

You can experiment with different light bulbs, as some will be more audible than others, depending on who knows – shape of the filament, materials, construction.

3

Thanks for the excellent explanation! I appreciate it. I’ll try a couple bulbs out and see what happens.