LED Bulbs Interfere With Garage Door Remotes

[45Doll 5,877]

Who knew? Not me. Just had the occasion with a dead garage door opener (Chamberlain Whisper Drive) to replace the control/power board. Much cheaper than buying a whole new one.

Afterwards, I noticed my remote was very intermittent, and at different distances and angles. So I was thinking the used board I bought actually had a RF sensitivity problem. (Yes, I had already put in a new remote battery.)

I'll cut to the chase and spare you the details. While I was replacing the board I finally thought it was time to 'upgrade' to LED bulbs and kick in my share of savings to global warming climate change. It turns out that many LED bulbs are little RF generators so they interfere with the control head's reception of the remote signal. There are however some LED bulbs specifically designed to not interfere with the remotes. I'm going to try some next week, and I'll post up if they do in fact work properly. In the meantime, hello incandescent!

I found that out by accident while searching for just the control PC board to swap it in. Glad I did. 

Light Bulbs That Can Be Used in Garage Door Openers (chamberlaingroup.com)

[1LtCAP 4,264]

they interfere with cb radio too. and some weaker fm stations.

 

[Shocker 151]

Each bulb has an itty bitty rectifier and/or switching power supply in it to run on 120vac and some are awfully crappy

[1LtCAP 4,264]

10 hours ago, Shocker said:

Each bulb has an itty bitty rectifier and/or switching power supply in it to run on 120vac and some are awfully crappy

i have led headlights in my truck, along with a led lightbar under the bumper. those interfere with most weaker fm stations, and sometimes with my cb. i have autozone special led's bolted on rear bumper for backuplights. crazy bright.....but they intefere with all of the above. some led street lights do it too, and often when i pass a shopping plaza with a bunch of led i get the same thing.....

[Bomber 1,092]

19 hours ago, 45Doll said:

I'll cut to the chase and spare you the details. While I was replacing the board I finally thought it was time to 'upgrade' to LED bulbs and kick in my share of savings to global warming climate change. It turns out that many LED bulbs are little RF generators so they interfere with the control head's reception of the remote signal.

Indoor LED's can also be damaging to the eyes and health in general. But hey, who really needs good vision anyway?

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/10/joseph-mercola/beware-eye-destroying-lightbulbs/

"However, the heat generated by incandescent light bulbs, which is infrared radiation, is actually beneficial to your health, and hence worth the extra cost.

There are major downsides to LEDs that are not fully appreciated. LED lighting may actually be one of the most important, non-native EMF radiation exposures you’re exposed to on a daily basis.

If you chose to ignore these new insights, it can have very serious long-term ramifications. It could lead to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and elsewhere.

[45Doll 5,877]

One thing dawned on me. Make a comparison of how well the remote works coming home (after you've been out a while), as opposed to when the door is already open.

Because when you come home the opener's lights are off (unless you locked them on), so there's no interference. When the door is open they're probably on, like when you just pulled out and the opener won't work within 15 feet.

That's how I got fooled for a few days. Sometimes it worked fine, other times not.

[45Doll 5,877]

There are several options for LED bulbs that don't interfere with garage door remotes. I bought these, and they work.

TORCHSTAR Universal Garage Door Opener LED Light Bulb, 100W Equivalent, 1500lm Ultra Bright, Minimize Interference with Remotes, UL Listed, 120V, A19 Bulbs, 15W, E26 Base, 5000K Daylight, Pack of 2 - Amazon.com

The first reason I bought these is they were the only 100W versions I found. The others were typically 60. My search didn't turn over every rock, so there might be others.

I bought the 5K daylight version as a test, and I like them in the garage. I would never use them in the house, as 5K light washes out colors, IMO. But in the garage they really light it up. However a 3K version is also available.