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led lighting and three way laminating switches.?

i was in the process of changing over my hallway lighting to led. Now, the recessed lights are on three way switches, that have lights in them like "night lites". After the change over, I noticed the led's had a dim glow after they were switched off. The bath lights glow after switch-off, but it kind of fades to black. but that's not the case in the hallway. I this normal?

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  • 1 decade ago
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    Here's the deal: Normal switches don't allow any current to flow when they are turned off. Those lighted switches, however, DO have a small level of current flowing, the purpose of which is to power the little light bulbs built into them. This current flows through your light bulb -- the one on the ceiling. Incandescent bulbs are so power hungry that you won't see any light being emitted from such a small current flow. LED lights, on the other hand, require very little to power them. So they may or may not glow depending upon several factors.

    If the glow bothers you, I suggest replacing the lighted switches with regular ones. Or remove their bulbs, if possible.

    One caveat: If the wiring of your house is very fancy like that of my rich uncle's, where the switches don't power the light bulbs directly but rather through a centralized bank of relays, then what I said above is wrong. The problem lies in a peculiarity of the system.

    Source(s): 35 years of electrical engineering.
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