Dimmers

All of our interior ranges have dimmers as part of the range. If you have an idea of the style you would like, use the right hand menus to select a style/finish first, and then choose the dimmer type in that style.

Intelligent dimmers are the most popular type being designed for mains (240V) and low voltage (12V) supplies. If you are unsure use the guide below to help you decide on the correct dimmer, or get in touch with us and we will help you select the correct dimmer for the job.

Alternatively if you are after a particular dimmer type, please choose the dimmer type below

Intelligent Dimmers

LED Dimmers

Remote Dimmers

Which Dimmer do you need?

There are so many different types of light bulb and lamps available today and it is a mine-field trying to select the correct dimmer switch to suit your own particular lighting requirements. Add to this certain bulbs that simply cannot be dimmed at all and it makes the decision of which dimmers to use even more complicated. Ordinary Light Bulbs, Halogen Lamps and LEDs can be dimmed but the dimmer requirements for each type can vary. If you make a mistake and purchase the incorrect type of dimmer it may not work at all or even worse blow the dimmer or in extreme circumstances irrevocably damage your light fitting.

Resistive Dimmers (Leading Edge) - Our Standard Range

Leading edge dimmers are compatible with resistive or inductive loads and are the most commonly used dimmer switches.

Our Standard Range Dimmers are used to dim ordinary light bulbs and candle lamps as well as mains voltage halogen light bulbs. They are also used to dim most electronic low voltage transformers.

All dimmer switches are rated by a minimum and maximum wattage and this is important when selecting the correct dimmer. For example if you have 10 x 40w Candle Lamps you will require a 400w dimmer switch but if you selected a 250w dimmer switch you would experience a buzz from the dimmer and eventually the dimmer module would overheat and burn out which would destroy the dimmer.

In the case of halogen lamps you need to allow the dimmer to be over-rated by at least 30%. GU10, G9 and GZ10 halogen lamps create an additional load at the dimmer switch which often results in excess heat inside the module. When this happens you can sometimes hear a buzzing from the dimmer switch.

All quality branded Halogen Bulbs incorporate a fused link to protect the circuit in case of a short within the lamp. Many Non-branded lamps and Halogen Bulbs do not have this fused protection and should be avoided.

Its important to never use a dimmer switch if it isn’t rated higher than the total lighting load you are putting through it.

Trailing EdgeDimmers - Our Intelligent Range

Trailing edge dimmers are commonly used to dim the heavy type of wire-wound or toroidal transformers. These transformers are not used as much any more and have generally been replaced by the new electronic versions.

Dimming Fluorescent Fittings

Dimming fluorescent fittings is difficult and as a general rule of thumb are simply not dimmable.

You may find some domestic fluorescent light bulbs are labelled as being dimmable and these are dimmed using a standard type dimmer.

LED Compatible Dimmer Range

Non-dimmable LED lamps cannot be dimmed. Should you fit a dimmer to non-dimmable LEDs then you will damage both the dimmer and the lamps.

Some Mains voltage dimmable LED light bulbs can be dimmed using our Standard Range dimmers however this is not always clear and can cause problems when trying to select the correct dimmer.

If you have a few LED lamps to dim, then the total wattage will not be enough to load the dimmer so you will need a dimmer especially designed for LEDs - a LED dimmer. For example, four 5w LED lamps in a small room will only total 20w whilst the minimum load on a most 400w normal dimmers is 40w or even 60w. This means that the dimmer will simply not work. In these circumstances a LED dimmer rated at 5 – 100w would be required. Under normal circumstances, so long as the minimum load is exceeded, dimming mains voltage LED lamps is not an issue so long as the minimum load is observed.

We have introduced a dedicated LED Compatible range of Dimmers and the beauty of these LED dimmers is that they will dim almost every type of lighting (except Non-Dimmable Fluorescent and some Trailing Edge requirements). These are a little bit more expensive than our other dimming options however if you are in any doubt or you might be considering replacing normal bulbs with LED in the future these LED dimmers are a close fix-all option.

Our LED dimmers will of course dim most LEDs but in addition they are suitable for the following too;

• Mains Voltage Light Bulbs or Candle Lamps
• Electronic Low Voltage Lighting Transformers
• Mains Voltage Halogen and GU10 Bulbs

We use the Varilight V-PRO dimmer module which adapts to many different types of lighting loads. When the dimmer is switched on it will detect the load and adjust its dimming pattern accordingly. Should you decide to change your lighting at some time in the future then the dimmer will detect the change and adapt its dimming pattern.

The minimum load on our LED Dimmer range is 10w per gang

Finally

If you have any doubt about which dimmer to choose you can always give our team a call on 01926 289 289 and we will be more than happy to help. The only way to be absolutely certain is to purchase them from a specialist supplier like www.socketsandswitches.com  We supply all available types of dimmers in every finish available on our website so we are sure to have what you need.