Is this on us to fix or the sparky?

[LookImAHooman]

Please help settle a difference of opinion between DH and me.

We had spots put into an extension about three weeks back. We supplied the bulbs and dimmer. The bulbs have always emitted a quiet high-pitched noise when the dimmer is turned down about halfway and DH has got different bulbs to try, although there shouldn't really be any issue with the ones in atm AFAIK.

Tonight I turned the dimmer right down and now the spots or bulbs or something somewhere is not responding to the dimmer and the lights are stuck at half (and whiny) level.

As we supplied the dimmer and bulbs, is this on us or should we be getting the electrician back in to sort it?

I vote for the sparky. electric fires can take down a house quickly.

Something sounds wrong and I would get the electrician back as you cannot fix it yourselves. He should have left it in perfect working order and as he hasn't he should come back. Put the original bulbs back though! Personally I dislike dinners and have always found them unreliable. Better to have secondary lower level lighting for the look you want. Not sure all bulbs are dimmable either.

They're definitely dimmable but thanks for backing me up We could really do without a bill atm but seriously, it's only three weeks in and the materials were bought from a perfectly legit supplier (obviously) who we've had no issue with previously.

I asked DH who once worked with electrics but a long time ago. Get the electrician out to check it as there is obviously a fault. He thinks it's most likely to be the switch as you've already changed the bulbs and it's made no difference. Or bad connection. But dimmers are meant to be notoriously faulty. He won't have them. Hope it gets sorted.

Thanks. Haven't changed the bulbs yet but that's on DH's list to try first. Failing that, he now thinks he knows what to do with the dimmer switch (which has had a driver changed to allow it to work with LEDs instead of halogens). And now the lovely ceiling shades for the hall are just a smidge too long. Not loving lighting full stop atm. May resort to camping lanterns all round.

Are the lamps LED? LED Lamps and dimmers have notoriously annoying compatibility issues. Noise and even flashing are common side effects of this.

The problem, I think, is with the dimmer. Even LED compatible ones are shaky/emit noise. This module (saves costs of new dimmer) should sort it. Varilight V-Pro: www.varilight.co.uk/dimmers/v-pro.php

the electrician is responsible for the work, and you are responsible for the materials you supplied.

I think there is no suggestion that the wiring has been incorrectly connected so the electrician is not at fault.

If the bulbs you supplied make a noise, it's the bulbs, not the wiring.

Maybe the dimmer and bulbs are incompatible, maybe they are not as good as you expected; who can say.

I had the noise problem with a dimmer, and it was the bulb! I would try changing that first, and see if it solves the problem.

More thoughts while driving around in the van today. If the lamps are megaman they suck and buzz all the time had endless issues with them. Varilight V Pro are good dimmers, Zano however are the current dogs bollox of dimmers for led if you go down that route