But their actual power consumption is a lot less. As a result, LED bulbs in particular are frequently marked as “100W equivalent,” “60W equivalent,” and so on. Bulbs marked like this are becoming more common, but it can be confusing. The brightness of incandescent bulbs has historically been measured in watts, but this is actually wrong because watts are a unit of energy consumption.
In areas where internet coverage is poor, Z-Wave is a popular alternative (a low-power radio network), and several Z-Wave smart dimmable LEDs are available. It’s important to check compatibility, and whether a “bridge” (a wireless device used to connect networks) is necessary. The best work with all common household routers, but not all. Some can also display different colors – up to 256 million of them. They can be voice activated, programmed to turn on and off at specific times, or controlled by phone even if you’re hundreds of miles away. The result is “smart” dimmable bulbs, which can be controlled by home hubs and virtual assistants (like Alexa), and smartphones or tablets. Given that LEDs are a kind of semiconductor – in essence, similar to the things you find at the heart of a computer – it should be no surprise that some manufacturers have taken the idea further than just the ability to adjust brightness. Smart bulbs: There’s another alternative, which doesn’t rely on a dimmer switch at all: the smart WiFi dimmable LED. These bulbs deliver way more reliable performance, but depend on an LED-compatible switch, called a trailing-edge dimmer. So if the LED is on 20% of the time and off 80% of the time, what you actually see is something that’s one-fifth as bright as usual. The effect works because the very clever human brain is happy to take an average of what’s going on. PWM: The better method is pulse width modulation (PWM), which works by switching the LED on and off, thousands of times per second. Flicker can be a problem, and some LEDs may not light at all. This kind of LED can work better with an incandescent dimmer switch, but the results are unpredictable. LEDs don’t dim in the same way that incandescent bulbs do, but they can be made to look like they do.Īnalog: One way is to use analog dimming – reducing the current so the LED doesn’t light fully. In fact an LED isn’t a bulb, it’s an electrical circuit (called a driver) and a light-emitting diode made from thin slices of semiconductor. Key considerationsĭimming an incandescent bulb is simple: you just reduce the voltage supplied. It also uses considerably less electricity. But if you don't want to use those, its very easy to just snip off the connectors, strip the wires back, and hook them up directly to your 12v power source / LEDs.A dimmable bulb might seem expensive at first, but its durability makes it cheaper in the long run.
The when power is re-applied, you must tap the Touch LED Dimmer once to turn the LEDs back on.Ĭomes pre-wired with two common AC adapter plugs (barrel connector type).
When power is removed, the LEDs will obviously turn off. When you turn it back on, it will go straight to the last brightness level. It has memory! So even if you remove power to the unit, it will remember the last brightness level. Once you find the perfect brightness to suit your mood, just remove your finger, and your LEDs will stay glowing at that brightness. It only takes a light tap to turn it on, and another light tap to turn it off.Īnd hold your finger to it to smoothly cycle through the brightness levels. There's no moving parts, so there's nothing to break or wear out over time. Use it either as an On/Off switch, or fine tune the brightness of your LEDs, and LED strips with this simple in-line LED dimmer.