What type of rheostat can I use to control an LED bulb?

Question

I am making an Edison wooden lamp and instead of a toggle on/off switch, I want to be able to dim the lamp.  The bulb I am using is rated at 6 Watts.  What type of rotary rheostat should I use for the dimming function?  It needs to work at 120V.
Many rheostats I am seeing are rated for 100W which may not properly dim an LED given their low wattage.

Steve Wellens · Answer

I don't think you can.   Get a dimmable LED and use a standard inline light dimmer.

Kyle B · Answer

Above is right.  Use a standard light dimmer and make sure your bulb says "dimmable" on the package

The 100W rating for a rheostat is the power it can sink, has nothing to do with the LED's rated power.   You would, if you did try a rheostat, need to pick a proper resistance.  That requires some circuit analysis and math.   It'd be trivial for me, but then again I'm an electronics engineer.   And being an EE, I would use a standard light dimmer   ;)

What type of rheostat can I use to control an LED bulb?

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