Does anyone here know about LED light dimmers?

[alamo5000]

We had some old florescent lights that we took down and replaced with LED light fixtures.

Everything is good. The lights are all installed and work great. We do however want to be able to dim them if we can.

The manufacturer says the lights require a 0-10v dimmer, which is easy enough to get and install.

The problem is there are four lights wired to a single switch. At 60 watts per fixture the total wattage per switch is 240 watts.

Some of the information online says the following:

"0-10V dimming doesn't worry about wattage, just that the load is compatible to the ballast/driver being used."

So in other words they are saying (if I understand correctly) that my search for a 0-10v 250+ watt switch is not actually needed.

With a regular light/switch/dimmer you have to make sure the wattage rating is enough, but apparently it's not the same for LED lights.

Hence I am trying to understand understand what I'm shopping for and which other criteria I need to look at.

 

[NoDopes]

Pretty sure the actual LED light itself needs to be dimmer compatible. Not all are.
Note, this one says "for dimmable LEDs".

Lutron Diva LED+ Dimmer Switch for Dimmable LED and Incandescent Bulbs, 150-Watt/Single-Pole or 3-Way, White (DVCL-153PR-WH) DVCL-153PR-WH - The Home Depot

The Diva LED+ dimmer switch provides optimal dimming performance of LED bulbs. This dimmer switch works with up to 150-Watt of dimmable LED/CFL or 600-Watt of incandescent/halogen, allowing you to control

www.homedepot.com

 

[alamo5000]

Pretty sure the actual LED light itself needs to be dimmer compatible. Not all are.
Note, this one says "for dimmable LEDs".

Lutron Diva LED+ Dimmer Switch for Dimmable LED and Incandescent Bulbs, 150-Watt/Single-Pole or 3-Way, White (DVCL-153PR-WH) DVCL-153PR-WH - The Home Depot

The Diva LED+ dimmer switch provides optimal dimming performance of LED bulbs. This dimmer switch works with up to 150-Watt of dimmable LED/CFL or 600-Watt of incandescent/halogen, allowing you to control

www.homedepot.com

Yes it needs to be LED compatible. It also has to be 0-10v for my lights.

The question is about the wattage. Each light is 60 watts and there are four per switch for a total of 240 watts on each switch. That being said some places online said that the amount of watts is not relevant to an LED 0-10v dimmer.

Long story short there are a lot of 0-10v LED dimmers, but most of them are only up to 150watts. If a 150watt rated dimmer will work then I can just get some of those no problem.

 

[alamo5000]

Pretty sure the actual LED light itself needs to be dimmer compatible. Not all are.
Note, this one says "for dimmable LEDs".

Lutron Diva LED+ Dimmer Switch for Dimmable LED and Incandescent Bulbs, 150-Watt/Single-Pole or 3-Way, White (DVCL-153PR-WH) DVCL-153PR-WH - The Home Depot

The Diva LED+ dimmer switch provides optimal dimming performance of LED bulbs. This dimmer switch works with up to 150-Watt of dimmable LED/CFL or 600-Watt of incandescent/halogen, allowing you to control

www.homedepot.com

The switch you linked is not a 0-10v. It also says it is good for 150watts of LED.

 

[chevy_man]

0-10V Low Voltage Wall Mount Dimming Control

Hook one of these to the gray and purple of the drivers in your lights.

Don't need any power. Drivers create the 0-10v signal.

Just need some 16ga wire and wire all of them in parallel.

 

[Bullfrog08]

We had some old florescent lights that we took down and replaced with LED light fixtures.

Everything is good. The lights are all installed and work great. We do however want to be able to dim them if we can.

The manufacturer says the lights require a 0-10v dimmer, which is easy enough to get and install.

The problem is there are four lights wired to a single switch. At 60 watts per fixture the total wattage per switch is 240 watts.

Some of the information online says the following:

"0-10V dimming doesn't worry about wattage, just that the load is compatible to the ballast/driver being used."

So in other words they are saying (if I understand correctly) that my search for a 0-10v 250+ watt switch is not actually needed.

With a regular light/switch/dimmer you have to make sure the wattage rating is enough, but apparently it's not the same for LED lights.

Hence I am trying to understand understand what I'm shopping for and which other criteria I need to look at.

Are you sure you have a 60watt led? Is it a 60 watt led, or 60watt equivalent? Picture of the bulb? A 60watt equivalent is maybe 8-10 actual watts.

 

[UKDslayer]

Warning - many of these dimmers are now WiFi enabled, like just about everything else.

 

[chevy_man]

Are you sure you have a 60watt led? Is it a 60 watt led, or 60watt equivalent? Picture of the bulb? A 60watt equivalent is maybe 8-10 actual watts.

Doesn't matter. 0-10 isn't wattage dependant.

A normal LED dimmer is for if the drivers can dim via phase shift/triac not for 0-10v.

And he's talking strip lights, not just single light bulbs.

 

[alamo5000]

Are you sure you have a 60watt led? Is it a 60 watt led, or 60watt equivalent? Picture of the bulb? A 60watt equivalent is maybe 8-10 actual watts.

We installed two sets of four of these. So eight total. Four on each switch.

 

[alamo5000]

Doesn't matter. 0-10 isn't wattage dependant.

A normal LED dimmer is for if the drivers can dim via phase shift/triac not for 0-10v.

And he's talking strip lights, not just single light bulbs.

This is correct. One of the things throwing me off is that every 0-10v dimmer also has a wattage rating, eg "150 watts" or whatever.

If it's not wattage dependent, then why have a wattage rating?

I'm trying to wrap my head around it so I can at least know what to shop for.

 

[alamo5000]

Warning - many of these dimmers are now WiFi enabled, like just about everything else.

Don't need any of that wifi enabled stuff. Just something that can dim them given my setup.

 

[chevy_man]

This is correct. One of the things throwing me off is that every 0-10v dimmer also has a wattage rating, eg "150 watts" or whatever.

If it's not wattage dependent, then why have a wattage rating?

I'm trying to wrap my head around it so I can at least know what to shop for.

Those are the dual use ones. They still operate as a switch and do 0-10.


The one I linked above is a dimmer only, not a switch.

If you want to have dimming in the switch itself then you'll need to find one that does both and can handle the wattage.

 

[alamo5000]

I'm still on the hunt waiting for a response from a couple of different manufacturers.

That said I think I might have had a 'light bulb moment'. If you know please let me know if I'm on the correct thought process.

Here is my hypothesis as of now:

If I were to string multiple LED bulbs together, say just regular bulbs with no driver...in that case I would need to account for how many watts my dimmer could handle and make sure all of that is compatible.

That said, my current lights ALL have an internal driver factory installed on each fixture. Because of the existence of a driver on my fixtures I don't really have to account for the actual wattage. Other than just having a compatible 0-10v dimmer I should be good to go.

While there is a limit to how many fixtures could be operated from a single dimmer, in my case I'm no where near the limit on that end of things.

Does it seem correct or am I missing something major?

 

[n2ishun]

You won't find one that works for more than a short time (say a week to a month?).

I've had a bazillion people over the years want me to install them, tried every brand out there....they all suck.
Same with the photocell dusk to dawn things...not one will work with a LED with any certainty.

Welcome to the new world, enjoy your stay.

 

[smoothy8500]

You won't find one that works for more than a short time (say a week to a month?).

Ok, explains why I keep getting issues with those things.

 

[OldSalty2]

the LED driver is just to ensure a consistent supply of voltage and current to the LED diode. The driver will also handle the dimming function if they have this feature. Not all LEDs are dimmable because the driver does not have this functionality. The driver does not control nor produce the input power necessary to light the LED diode itself.

Most people have issues with dimming LEDs because they try to use dimmer switches on led or led fixtures that contain drivers that do not support it. They will flicker or sometimes still only go off/on because diodes only "activate" when they reach a specific voltage.

Are the fixtures really dimmable? What are the fixtures actual input voltage requirements?

 

[chevy_man]

Again, that dimmer I linked will dim the lights. It just isn't a switch. You could install it in a box next to the light switches.


I've never had an issue with LED compatible dimmers if they're loaded under rating. Nor have I had any issues with 0-10v dimmers.

 

[n2ishun]

The things need a certain *load* for the switching to work (yes a dimmer is a switch, variable, but still a switch).
LED lighting does not allow enough load for this to happen.
LED specific dimmers are just modified incandescent dimmers......modded by a highly skilled chinese engineer ya know ?
Your 0-10v dimmers were used on what, christmas string lights.....with incandescents ???
Yea, thought so.

If you REALLY want the things to work, figure out how to MAKE a driver circuit with a few resistors and a few capacitors.
It's technically called a "charge pump" circuit.
Get busy.

Here's a link, but it specifies raising voltage.....you don't want that, you want to raise amperage.
It's not too tough.....but you'll need a slide rule, a soldering iron, and an IQ higher than 100 (that rules you out chevyman).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123970121000205