Dimmer switch how does it work

The dimmer switch is used to control the brightness of the lights in parts of the home, such as the dining room or family room. They are available for either incandescent or fluorescent lighting; buy the right kind because they are not interchangeable.

Dimmer switches operate using the leading-edge phase principle. At the beginning of each sinusoidal half-wave, the dimmer blocks the current to the lamp, it is non-conducting.

Dimmer switches create an atmosphere. Whether subdued lighting for a stylish evening meal or a work light switched to suit ambient conditions: it is the ability to adapt lighting quickly and easily that makes dimmers such an attractive option. Besides, dimmers save energy and extend the life of lighting elements. There are 3 types of dimmer switches available in the electrical market: Rotary, universal, and touch screen.

Simply turn the dimmer to set the required brightness — pressing it turns the light on or off. Rotary dimmers can also be mounted in cross and two-way switches. The universal dimmers can be used for many kinds of lamp loads: incandescent lamps, high-voltage halogen lamps, and low-voltage halogen lamps with magnetic or electronic transformers.

The touch dimmers are particularly user-friendly. Switching them on and off is as simple as using a normal light switch. They can also be dimmed up or down to the required brightness. A dimmer switch changes the direction of electrical flow every time that it is used to dim or brighten the lights. The flow of electricity always alternates between positive and negative. When the circuit alternates it will automatically shut the circuit off or on. Ultimately, the dimmer switch controls the electrical cycle for dimming a light.

When the switch is turned down low the cycle takes longer to complete, and the light emits a lower level of brightness. The cycle also takes less time to complete. Electricians have devised different types of dimmer switches throughout the past years.

A Las Vegas electrician can install dimmer switches in your home. Fowler Electric can safely set up your switches and lights so that you can start saving energy and control the mood in your home.

Have a question? Shoot us an email! Or set up an appointment for a free estimate below. Photo by Reinaldo Kevin on Unsplash. Skip to content Dimmer switches are simple electronic devices that are used to control the brightness level of lighting. A control signal value of 5 volts, being at the midpoint of the control signal range would cause the light output, theoretically to go to the fifty percent output level.

And that goes between 0 and percent. That standard is actually the opposite of what you might expect. Meaning that if I were to actually apply zero percent of the time voltage, then the light output is actually going to be a hundred percent and reduce down linearly to 0 percent when we apply a hundred percent of the time the voltage — opposite of what you expect.

With those light sources, if I apply a zero percent of the time the voltage, then I will get 0 light output. A third and final method of analog indirect dimming uses a line voltage phase control waveform as a control signal. Such a device is characterized by a neutral conductor, a conductor for power switching, and a conductor for dimming control. While the power delivered to the light sources switch between the switch leg and neutral, in addition a face control signal is applied between the third conductor neutral, to signal the desired light output level.

Finally, there is indirect digital dimming, wherein we will send a series of bits, according to a preset protocol to communicate commands and status updates over a two serial communication port. Two examples of this are DMX and Dali while these technologies are mentioned to round out the discussion of dimming control, they fall outside of the scope of this article.

It works by changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the intensity of the light output. Old dimmer switches had a rather straightforward resolution to adjusting light levels. It gives a lot of resistance to moving electrical charges. A variable resistor consists of a lot of resistive substance, a stationary contact arm, and a moving contact arm.

You alter the total resistance of the resistor by adjusting the distance that the charge has to go through a resistive material. If the contact arm is to the left, charge running through the circuit simply has to travel through a little bit of resistive material. If the contact arm is all the way to the right, the charge has to pass through more resistive material.

As the charge goes to move through the resistor, energy is dissipated in the form of heat. And the decreased voltage across the light bulb decreases its light output. On-Off Switch The two extremes of light output range are of course achievable by a simple switch.

High-Frequency Switch The frequency of the switching is high enough that you cannot see it. Forward Phase Dimmer So this then would be the modified waveform coming out of the forward phase dimmer. Electronic dimmer switch At one point the history of light source development, the electronic transformer was introduced, with a very different set of characteristics from those of a magnetic transformer.

In this way, no sudden voltage rises occur, so it works with the electronic transformer. ELV or electronic voltage dimmer Dimmers that produced this backward waveform, are more known by the following terms: elv or electronic low voltage dimmer, simply electronic dimmer, reverse-phase dimmer or trailing edge dimmer.

I will refer to these from here on out as reverse phase dimmers. However, the following differences exist. Compatible dimmer switches I should mention here, that some electronic low voltage transformers have been modified, specifically to be compatible with forward phase dimmers. Indirect dimmer switches The signal is used to communicate to what level the light output should be set and the ballast driver uses some mechanism beyond the scope of this article, to achieve that lighting level.

Indirect dimmers are of two major types: analog and digital.