Dimming LEDs - options.

Had the whole house re-wired, looking to have dimmers in a couple of the rooms, and just re-asking the question before going ahead an buying.

I looked into various options including some more 'industrial systems' but came back to running conventional wiring, with the topology of power going to each switch, sw live and neutral up to the lamp. The majority of the fittings are white Hager Sollysta, with one room in brass.

Dimmers; Hager dimmers are very expensive and not LED compatible, so I am planning to use Hagar blanking plates and drill them to fit Varilite v-pro dimmers as they appear to be the defactor standard. Is that reasonable?

Bulbs/Lamps; appears to be a total minefield really, I like the idea of the Philips "warm glow" although not seen it in the flesh, I also like the 300deg light from filament based lamps which Osram and Crompton appear to do in frosted.


Presumably the Philips with with the v-pro else people would have posted about it? What about the Osram filament bulbs, given they appear very reasonable in price.
4w BC https://cpc.farnell.com/osram/4058075061736/lamp-led-gls-40-non-dim-827-fr/dp/LP11439
7w BC https://cpc.farnell.com/osram/4058075061798/lamp-led-gls-60-827-fr-b22d/dp/LP11441
7w BC dim https://cpc.farnell.com/osram/4058075061712/lamp-led-gls-60-dim-7w-827-fr/dp/LP11432

An input welcomed!

Daniel

Not fitted dimmers, but did fit remote controllable light switches, it seems LED bulbs are required to state if they will not dim, seems odd would have expected the reverse, however I found switches state the minimum size lamp that can be used, think mine stated 5W and I would assume it is down to current flow which is not enough to light lamp but enough to work electronics in the switch? Assuming no neutral to switch.

I liked dimmers when you turned it down to a warm red glow when watching TV, however the standard LED bulb does not change colour when dimmed, so you no longer get the ambience that you once had, so today note my son has secondary lighting which can change colour on the same switch plate, but independently switched.

He looked at colour changing bulbs in the main light, however he was not in favour of the continuous use of power even when switched off, and any electronic controlled switch or bulb will have a drain, however personally I don't think enough to worry about, also electronic switches normally default off, so with power cut lights never return without manually switching on again.

In my kitchen I have under counter lights, and a light in the cooker hood, don't ever use them, son says same with his mood lights, all fitted but after the honeymoon period where he showed them off, they now are never used. If I look back to when we had dimmers in the 80's when it was the in thing, again always turned up full, however it did seem the bulbs lasted longer with dimmers, but that was back in days of tungsten.

Now daughter has two sets of lights in the room, split 1/3 and 2/3 approx, which give three levels of lighting, wall lights only, ceiling lights only or both, she actually uses it, and does select how much light she wants, so when reading all lights are on, TV wall lights only, and normal ceiling lights only. All with two switches at the door.

Today I would consider a smart bulb, no work installing, they have gone down in price, and if I don't like it, easy to return to standard or fit it in another room. Unless you can dim without leaving seat likely will never be used after honeymoon period.

Daniel,
Varilite v-pro dimmers are are expensive, but also excelent to use and can be programmed to address diffrent types of bulbs.
So I am sure that they will work with (almost) any bulb you decide upon.

I find drilling blank wall plates near impossible , so pls tell me if you find a good method.

SFK

Yes you can use Varilite v-pro dimmer modules in a drilled blanking plate but keep in mind the holes shouldn’t be circular, they have 2 flat edges to stop the module rotating if retaining nut becomes loose. If you over tighten retaining nut it can hinder switch clicking in and out smoothly.... Get a pack of needle files I reckon! In the past Ive purchased Varilite dimmers and used with screwfix own brand dimmable warm white LED lamps and had no complaints from customers. If I recall, some of the dimmers can only power max 10 lamps? so ensure you research min/max load requirements beforehand.

SFK said:

Daniel,
Varilite v-pro dimmers are are expensive, but also excelent to use and can be programmed to address diffrent types of bulbs.
So I am sure that they will work with (almost) any bulb you decide upon.

I find drilling blank wall plates near impossible , so pls tell me if you find a good method.

SFK

Click to expand...

Not sure I share your view of Varilight dimmers. They work well for many loads, but they are really slow to respond and far too easy to put into programming mode which resets all your settings.