An LED lights’ internal control circuit, designed to maintain the bulb’s efficiency and lifespan, generates radio emissions. Government regulations state that they should be between 30 and 300 MHz. If the LED light generates a higher frequency, it will cause interference with a garage door opener. Garage door opener radio controls work on 300 to 433 MHz.

The current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations rely on manufacturers to know that they must regulate the frequency emission. Manufacturers are on the ‘honor system’ in order to make sure a product meets these requirements. There is very little oversight at this point, so bulb manufacturers have no real need to prevent this interference.

We suggest avoiding the cheapest LEDs, these tend to be the ones with incorrect frequency emissions – there’s a reason why they cost less; often, their light isn’t very good, either!