Dimming 12 VDC or 24 VDC LED Lights

Two dimming solutions for your LED strips, fixtures and modules

LEDs get brighter all the time and are packaged in ways that make it possible to use them in many areas of your home or business. The ability to dim your LED products is highly desirable. Here are just a few examples: LED Under Cabinet Lights: When cooking or preparing foods, you will want your LED under cabinet lights to shine at the optimum brightness. But when the last dish is dried and put away, and the family retires to the living or family room, you may want just a soft perimeter glow in the kitchen. Cove Lighting: There are times you will want the drama of high birettas LED strip to accent walls or architectural features. High brightness is also most helpful when cleaning. We don’t want to miss a stray cobweb. But when everyone’s ready to retire, dimming down the birettas can even act as a night light. No more stubbing your toe on the way to the kitchen for that glass of water or midnight snack. Bathrooms: A dimmer in the bathroom? But of course! When do you have occasion to get up at night and flip on the switch, what happens?

Youch! Your pupils were wide open when you were in the dark, and now you expose your eyes to a flood of light. It’s temporarily blinding and not very pleasant. Solution? Leave your lights on dim overnight. You can do that with no electric bill worries when you are using LED lighting. And, there is nothing more relaxing than a good, long soak in a bubbly tub. Consider using cove lighting around the tub area. Douse all the primary lights once you’re ready to step into that inviting warmth, and enjoy the soft glow a warm white LED strip will provide. Some LED products, like this, LED under cabinet light and LED light bulbs to operate at 120VAC and are dimmable with a standard household dimmer. Nothing else is needed. You install these LED products the very same way you would an incandescent or fluorescent light. Others, such as this LED under cabinet light, and flexible LED strip, operate at low voltage and get their input power from an AC-DC transformer. You can dim these products two different ways.

1. Low Voltage Dimmers for LEDs: This is the simplest approach, well suited to the homeowner who is installing themselves. When using low voltage dimmers, you dim the low voltage side. This four wire dimmer goes in between the transformer output and your LED product input. You can select a dimmer with a wall plate pre-attached, or you can use our mini dimmer. You would simply use a blank plate and drill a hole to accommodate the knob. This allows you to use different colours and textures for your wall plates. The mini-dimmer is also excellent for many commercial applications where you won’t be using a wall plate at all but will be installing the dimmer in a control panel of some kind.

2. Dimmable Transformers for LEDs. This state of the art device allows you to use an ordinary household (120VAC) dimmer. Encased in a high-quality NEMA 3R metal case enclosure that includes 2 knock-outs to enable easy installation, they are equipped with auto-reset breakers, one on the input and one on the output, protecting both the load and the driver. Many electricians prefer this type of transformer for the integrated junction box that protects electrical connections and makes installation clean, safe and easy. 277V input is available for those commercial and industrial installations, as well as outdoor lighting transformers. Learn to use light to your best advantage with flexible, durable, multi-purpose LED lighting and easy dimming techniques.

By: Mary Wecker