I'm putting a couple of down lighters in my soffits I'm going to be using LED's I just wonder what I can do to time them to come on then dim automatically at say 11pm until off when the sun comes up ?
Can I do this and any Sujestion of equipment
- Thread starter markymark2406
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On at dusk and off at a given time is no problem.
http://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/dusk-till-11pm-timer.416576/
But for dimming you'll need dimmable lighting, a s/w controllable dimmer, and some logic to do the dimming.
You'd probably be best off getting lights which use an external driver (so not 230V ones) and build your own control/driver system using a Raspberry Pi. (I don't think that an Arduino would have the intelligence to be able to tell the time).
http://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/dusk-till-11pm-timer.416576/
But for dimming you'll need dimmable lighting, a s/w controllable dimmer, and some logic to do the dimming.
You'd probably be best off getting lights which use an external driver (so not 230V ones) and build your own control/driver system using a Raspberry Pi. (I don't think that an Arduino would have the intelligence to be able to tell the time).
I have used these on a couple of projects
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/STNM3000B.html
One can set the time (economy night mode) from dusk for the light to go out, so it will run from dusk to 11pm (ish). It has got some clever way of adjusting for seasonal changes in dusk time.
Not sure what you mean by "dim". This is on, or off..
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/STNM3000B.html
One can set the time (economy night mode) from dusk for the light to go out, so it will run from dusk to 11pm (ish). It has got some clever way of adjusting for seasonal changes in dusk time.
Not sure what you mean by "dim". This is on, or off..
The raspberry pi doesn't have a realtime clock either; it relies on Internet connectivity for time sync.
You can add an i2c rtf module to either the pi or an arduino, eg a DS1303
When I mean dim 50%
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Personally I would use them as two banks. Both dusk until 11 and single bank until dawn fair easier to do than dimming lights.
I have a 2W GU10 reading lamp I leave on in my living room so if I want to go down for something during the night there is enough light to see by. I considered some form of switching but at 2W and I could not find anything cheap enough that would save money rather than leaving 2W lamp on all night. I would want it to pay for its self in 5 years and clearly it would need to use a lot less than 2W.
My son was only talking about lights on Sunday which were Wifi controlled and he originally thought they were a good idea until he found the Wifi took 11W which made them rather pointless.
I have a 2W GU10 reading lamp I leave on in my living room so if I want to go down for something during the night there is enough light to see by. I considered some form of switching but at 2W and I could not find anything cheap enough that would save money rather than leaving 2W lamp on all night. I would want it to pay for its self in 5 years and clearly it would need to use a lot less than 2W.
My son was only talking about lights on Sunday which were Wifi controlled and he originally thought they were a good idea until he found the Wifi took 11W which made them rather pointless.
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