The lighting guys I'm able to talk to have no idea that LEDs take different kinds of control. I don't know of a manufacturer I can call, since the brands I see refer only to amazon pages or Home Depot pages, with no tech info.

I'll bet someone out there has solved this problem. Anyone?

Thanks.

Why does the photocell need to be different? I understand the issue with dimmers, but isn't a photocell just on and off?

"...able to talk to..."- you mean "stuck talking to", right?

I installed a photocell on the light over one of my doors and it's made for incandescent bulbs. If it can't handle an LED, I would ask "Why?". It's getting close to ten years and I started with incandescent, went to CFL and now I have an LED. I think I got it at Home Depot.

It's either open, or closed- what kind of control are you thinking of?

Is this an indoor or outdoor location?

I'm running a standard photo cell to turn my outdoor cans with LED bulbs on and off without any issues.

Your just turning the power on and off,not dimming them.

The photo sensor doesn't care what the load is.

I think your over thinking this.

Yes, I guess I was overthinking it. I haven't put in a photocell in years and I didn't remember they're made with a neutral. So they don't have the problems that dimmers without neutrals have. Of course, you know I'll be back if this doesn't work....

What neutral? They have two wires- in and out. When light reaches a certain level, it's conductive. If they're controlling a heavy load, you could use it to latch a relay.

They have neutral wires. At least all of them I have ever seen.

I've encountered some issues with minimum load on photocells. Mostly from the mini "button" type before they started rating for LED and that was trying to fire 4w candelabra lamps. 6w of load will be try and see but I would think should be fine, especially if it says LED rated and has the neutral wire.

Most now have a neutral wire, still encounter a few fixture-installed generics that don't.

I don't remember mine having that, but it was almost ten years ago. I remember using these for the LED on car alarms when people didn't want it to be a "Steal Me" indicator.

That's why. Cars are DC so no need for a neutral.

Fins, highfigh, pilgram, none of you are apparently informed as to the state of things. BisyB talks about EXACTLY the issue I'm wondering about. Thanks for speaking up, B.



Again, you're not informed. In my book, you're talking about wall dimmers. (The kind of light switches that are called 'photocells' have three wires.) Maybe not, but try using a two-wire model with LED lamps. I've got a six-lamp fixture on a two-wire dimmer that won't dim worth a damn unless one of the lamps is an incandescent. Those two-wire guys also have to have a MINIMUM load to work. And with LEDs, they'll slam from about 30% to zero, so their dimming is crap. Then, to turn them on, you have to raise the control to about 50%, where they slam ON.

What I'm talking about is the outdoor light sensor that turns lights on and off, and I had not realized they have a neutral. Having the neutral makes it less likely that the load actually matters.

I've been running one of those cheap lamp post photo cells with a very low watt led for several years now and it's still running. I think the newer lamp post photo cells have something in them to prevent the 'flicker' that old ones used to have, I think that's why you can use them on about any type of bulb now. I think if you put an LED bulb into one of the older type photo cells that do 'flicker' it might be a problem.
Edit: I think this is what I'm using: Woods 59408 Outdoor Hardwire Light Control with Photocell, Light Sensor Switch

way over thinking this dude...

If it's only providing a NC or NO connection, why would it need a neutral? A regular paddle-type switch has a ground screw but it doesn't need a neutral- it's performing the same function, just manually.