THD In Light Bulbs


I have replaced a 40w incandescent light bulb with a 12w LED light bulb. The new LED is way brighter. In fact, the box says that it's a 75w equivalent. The box also shows something interesting:

Power Factor >.90  
THD: <35%

I've read that LEDs are essentially diodes. How does this affect noise in the mains? Do LEDs inject more, less, or the same amount of THD into the mains as incandescent/fluorescent lights? 
c_avila1
Yeah, I noticed that too. LEDs are not essentially diodes. LEDs are actually diodes. 

But hey don't take my word for it. Try reversing direction, see how that goes.
If you are not using a dimmer, then I would not get too worried. It's just another small switching power supply on your AC line, and odds are you already have quite a few (all those USB chargers, and they can be worse).

If you have a dimmer, then yes, things could be noisier as the power supply in the bulb will have capacitors on the front end which will result in higher peak currents when the dimmer turns on (120 times a second, 100 in some parts of the world).

There are some bulbs/lights that do not have switch mode power supplies in them, but simple linear regulators. They are common in low cost flush mount ceiling lights, but not very common in bulbs. I would avoid most as they can have lots of invisible flicker.
Can someone elaborate on smart light bulbs?  I recently added 8, color changing, dimmable, smart led bulbs from sengled...
twoleftears,

That is a link to a highly technical article, that is itself really only applicable to one IC / control architecture. Most EEs would not understand the subtleties of it, let alone most people here. It is really not applicable to the ops question.