Can you use a dimmer switch on a halogen light?

Takeaway. Incandescent and Halogen light bulbs work well with dimmer switches. However, due to many advances in lighting technology, CFLs and LEDs are catching up and do a good job, the same as incandescent light bulbs do. When getting bulbs for dimming, be sure that it’s compatible with your switches.

What’s the difference between trailing edge and leading edge dimmer?

These two types of phase cutting dimmer get their names from the part of the AC wave that they cut off. Leading edge dimming cuts of the front edge of each waves’ half cycle. Conversely trailing edge dimming cuts out the second half of each waves’ half cycle.

What does trailing edge dimmer mean?

Trailing-edge Dimmers (Reverse phase dimmers) They provide a much smoother dimming control, absent of any buzzing noise, and is ideal for use in most premises. A trailing-edge dimmer has a lower minimum load than leading-edge dimmers, making it a better choice for dimming modestly sized low-powered lighting circuits.

Do I need a trailing edge dimmer?

Trailing edge dimmers have a much lower minimum load than the leading edge, making them far more suitable for powering LEDs. The 10% rule is very important when using trailing edge dimmers with LEDs. The main benefit of trailing edge dimmers is that they are able to control lower wattage loads.

Do halogen bulbs need a special dimmer switch?

Use an LED Dimmer switch If you dim a standard bulb such as halogen and the light intensity is reduced to 50% via dimming then the halogen bulb will give almost no light output, however if you do the same with an LED bulb the LED light will give 50% of its light capacity at its fullest.

How does a trailing edge dimmer work?

Trailing edge dimmers work by cutting the second half of each half cycle in an AC wave. ELV (Electronic Low Voltage) dimmers are dimmers that tend to work with most dimmable LEDs. Trailing Edge Dimmers are ELV dimmers. MLV (Magnetic Low Voltage) dimmers are designed to be used with magnetic drivers.

What happens if you use non dimming bulbs on dimmer switches?

If you use non-dimmable LEDs on a dimmer, what happens? The bulb will not dim properly. The circuitry inside non-dimmable LEDs won’t be able to handle low or pulsing current levels and will eventually become damaged, because they are only designed to be either fully powered ON or off.

Do you need a different dimmer switch for LED lights?

Use an LED Dimmer switch A standard dimmer switch cannot be used with an LED light as you will never be able to dim the LED light either completely or not very well. LED lights need their own special electronic dimmer switch to have a fully functioning and dimming light.

Can a trailing edge dimmer be used with LEDs?

The 10% rule is very important when using trailing edge dimmers with LEDs. Although a 400W trailing edge dimmer may be able to power 400W of incandescent lamps with ease when it comes to LEDs the maximum load is only 10% of this. This means, with our 400W dimmer example, the maximum load would only be 40W worth of LEDs.

What does ELV dimmer on halogen light mean?

“ELV dimmer” doesn’t mean the dimmer is electronic and low voltage, it means it’s for dimming an electronic power supply of a low voltage halogen light. An ELV dimmer cuts the trailing edge of the power wave, to reduce hum.

What kind of dimmer switch do I need for LEDs?

There are two types of dimmer switch for mains dimming in your home; leading edge and trailing edge. Trailing edge switches work best with LEDs. If your dimmer switch is old it’s likely a leading edge switch and worth changing to a trailing edge version.

Why are LED lights called Leading Edge Dimmers?

For an LED lamp or luminaire to be functional with a phase control dimmer, the electronics of its driver have to be compatibly adapted. Leading-edge dimmer switches are sometimes called ‘incandescent dimmers’, because they were originally designed to handle the resistive load of incandescent light.