Posted by Marc Martin on
URL: https://www.es-forum.com/LED-filament-bulbs-tp4034862.html

Hi all,

So I was experimenting with some LED light bulbs lately, and seeing what effect they had on AM radio interference.  Some of the bulbs I purchased cause a huge amount of interference on my AM radio, while others had less, and some had none.

What I found interesting was that all of the LED "filament" bulbs I tried from various manufacturers had no interference.  

I emailed one of the smaller vendors who sold both regular LED bulbs and filament bulbs, and asked them about the difference in interference.  And here is the reply I got:

"The difference in interference levels is likely due to the power factor rating. Our filament A19 lamps have a power factor of 0.9, while the standard A19 lamps have a power factor of 0.6. We suspect that the way in which the internal LED driver draws current creates a small electric field that can be observed as interference over AM radio."

Just FYI.

BTW, the vendor in question is Waveform Lighting.  And these are the A19 bulbs, with the E26 base.

Marc