LED Dimmers

The constant development of the LED lighting technology pushes the dimming industry forward; it is now becoming increasingly common to get not just a LED lamp but a dimmable LED lamp. Whether it is a LED integrated with the fitting or a GU10 LED light bulb, it is becoming more and more obvious that people want to dim their lights, and thus save energy. We can all agree that, once we switched from halogen lamps to LED lamps, the electricity cost has been slashed; how much more will it be even when we use a LED dimmer! Both for creating the right ambiance and for energy saving purposes, LED dimming is becoming quite necessary. It is no wonder therefore that most switches and sockets manufacturers have updated their range to include LED dimmers in their offer, and more and more people opt for a LED dimmer rather than a regular dimmer. LED Dimmers are now Available in all your Favorite Plates and Finishes! When it comes to the style of the dimmer / socket / switch, the customer has specific preferences, especially when he sees the suggestions made by the architect or the interior designer. This is why there are such plates as transparent plates (invisible plate / clear perspex plate), flat white plastic plates, flat metal plates, raised metal plates, and stepped plates, many of which come in different variations. Besides the type of plate, there are many finishes that the switch, socket, or dimmer can come in, such as brass (satin, polished, antique, etc), bronze (polished, matt, antique, etc), chrome (satin, brushed, polished, etc), Verdigris, painted, matt (black or white), and many others. And since the customer already has switches and sockets installed in a particular finish, there's the need for the LED dimmer to be in the same finish as well. Forget about the LED driver that used to be necessary - now the dimmable LED lamps simply need a good quality LED dimmer, and they work very well! There are at least two ways of replacing the existing wall-mounted dimmer with a LED dimmer: Purchase a new LED dimmer, in the plate and finish you require Replace the existing dimmer modules at the back with LED dimmer modules. In both cases, a registered electrician has to be the one who replaces or installs the LED dimmer. The good news, however, is that LED dimmers are now available in all your favorite plates and finishes! You can have LED dimmers in flat plate white plastic, square edge white plastic, invisible plate, screwless flat plate metal, flat plate (chrome, bronze, brass, black, white, and other finishes), raised plate (polished or satin chrome, brass, bronze, white, etc), stepped plate (with dual finish or single finish in Satin/Polished chrome or brass), and many others. Let us give you some examples of LED dimmers: 1 gang LED dimmer in brushed steel raised plate from BG Electrical 1 Gang trailing edge rotary LED dimmer in an invisible plate with an antique brass knob from Forbes and Lomax 2 gang LED dimmer in a screwless transparent plastic plate from Hamilton Litestat 2 gang LED dimmer in a polished brass Elite stepped plate from Heritage brass 3 gang LED dimmer in a screwless matt black flat plate from Heritage Brass 3 Gang LED dimmer on a flat plate in brushed chrome from BG Nexus 3 Gang LED Dimmer - Trailing Edge Rotary LED Dimmer Invisible Plate with Brass Knob from Forbes and Lomax 4 Gang LED dimmer on a primed white screwless flat plate from Heritage Brass 4 Gang LED dimmer in a screwless polished brass flat plate, Studio range, from M-Marcus The above list is a small selection from the wide range of LED dimmers available on our website. And if you simply wish to change the dimming module to a LED dimmer, why not check out the Varilight JP250P (V-Pro 1 Gang 2 Way Trailing Edge 10W-120W LED Dimmer / 250W Halogen Module Replacement) or the Danlers DPDLED (Rotary and Push LED Dimmer Module 5W - 250W - leading edge - for Dimmable LED Lamps). And if cannot find the LED dimmer in the finish and plate you already have, you can leave us a comment here or email us at sales @ sparksdirect.co.uk, and we will get back to you.

If you're not convinced that the LED lights are the future of lighting (at least the near future) then we have more reasons for you to reconsider. Whether exterior or indoor light fittings, LED lights can easily replace both the residential lights and the commercial lights, bringing with them more energy saving features while maintaining the bright light as needed. There's a shift in the lighting industry from halogen, fluorescent, and incandescent lighting to LED lighting, and the technology is rapidly developing to the extent that you can get a wide range of LED lights to replace your existing lights. There are a great many benefits to both the consumer and the installer when installing LED lights, and in this article we will touch the aspects of "saving money", "saving the environment", and "excellent lighting". Save Money when Using LED Lights When choosing LED lights you can reduce lighting bills by up to 90%, since LED lights use up to 80-90% less power than traditional lights. For example, you can replace a 50W halogen lamp (which uses a lot of energy - and a lot of money - and gives lots of heat too) with a 7.5W LED lamp, thus reducing the energy bill. LEDs use up to 90% less power than traditional incandescent light sources, and they also offer the potential for a noticeable and significant reduction in energy costs. You also save money when using LED lamps because the LEDs offer a lifetime far in excess of traditional lighting, typically tens of thousands of hours. This means that you don't have to change the light bulb that often, so you don't have to pay again for a light bulb! LED lights save you money and reduce your maintenance costs: the long life of the LEDs results in reduced labour costs associated with luminaire maintenance, such as replacing the light bulbs. Save the environment by Switching to LEDs It is quite important to reduce our carbon footprint, and by switching to LED lights we do just that. You can reduce the energy usage - thus save the environment by reducing the carbon footprint - with LED lights, for they typically use less power of an installation compared with traditional light sources. This means that, by using LED lights, you decrease the overall power consumption and you contribute to lower CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the LED lights are mercury-free: unlike the fluorescent lights, the LEDs are free from this pollutant. And on top of that, there's no UV light or IR, thus increasing the range of applications where the LED lamps can be used. It is good to consider the consequences of using a particular light, and in most cases LED lights are an environment-friendly alternative. Get Excellent Lighting with the LEDs Some fluorescent lights (which tend to be energy-saving) need a "warm-up" time period; the LED lights provide instant full brightness. You get an excellent light with LEDs, and it comes on with no waiting time! And if you want to dim the light, you can simply opt for the dimmable LED light bulbs, which are specially designed for optimal dimming performance. You can also choose the light operating temperature, from warm white to cool white, daylight, and natural light. The LEDs can perform well at low temperatures, increasing the areas within which they can be installed. When it comes to retrofitting, there's an LED light solution for almost any lamp and luminaire, and in some cases it is as simple as changing a light bulb! On our website we have a dedicated section of LED lights (LED light fittings), LED dimmers, and LED drivers, with all the pictures and technical specifications needed. This article was inspired from Eterna Lighting's guide to, Why choose LED? (see the pdf file here)

As an electrical wholesaler, we get asked a lot of questions both via our trade counter in Archway, North London, and via email, phone, website, etc. When it comes to lighting, it used to be that people preferred halogen lights; nowadays, however, everyone loves LED lights. As to bathroom lighting, many people have either standalone ceiling light fittings together with some wall lamps, shaver lights, or mirror lights, or they couple the ceiling lights with the bathroom fan. One of the questions we were asked recently is, Can I dim my bathroom lights? We don't have the complete answer to that, but as of today 13 February 2015, there are a few ways of dimming your bathroom lights. Note: due to the constant development and research in the realm of lighting, dimming, LED lighting, and technology, things can change in a year or so; however, up until today, these are the solutions that we can offer for dimming your bathroom lights. How to: Dim the Bathroom Lights First of all, before we even talk about how to dim the bathroom lights, we need to make sure that these lights are dimmable. This means that the light fitting has to allow you to dim - increase or decrease the light intensity - the light bulb and the light bulb also have to be dimmable. If the light fitting is dimmable, you can dim your bathroom lights. And when we speak of bathroom lights we speak mainly of the ceiling lights. Here are some solutions to dimming your bathroom lights: 1. Replace your wall switch with a dimmer switch. Because of the Building Regulations and the IP protection in the bathrooms, it is not possible to have a wall switch inside the bathroom; however, the wall light switch outside the bathroom can be replaced with a dimmer switch. Again, you will need to make sure that the bathroom lights are dimmable, and then you can set the bathroom light level as needed via a rotary dimmer switch. For example: you can use the Varilight HQ9W on/off rotary dimmer switch (in plastic white) or the intelligent single switch Varilight IQP401W (which takes up to 400W) with any of the dimmable bathroom ceiling lights. 2. Use a dimming pull cord switch: one of the few switching devices allowed in the bathroom is a pull cord switch. It is easy to turn the lights ON or OFF via the pull cord switch, and if the ventilation fan is also connected via this switch, the fan will be ON as standard. However, if you install the DIMPULL dimming pull cord switch you can not only turn your lights ON or OFF but, with a prolonged pull of the pull cord, you can dim the light level until you obtain the lighting you desire. Note: you cannot use this dimming pull cord switch with any fluorescent fittings (they are not dimmable), and the max. incandescent load is 250W. Also, you need to make sure you install this dimming pull cord switch outside zones 0 and 1; it can be installed only in the safe zone outside of the reach of water. For example: you can use the DIMPULL dimming pull cord switch with the popular bathroom ceiling lights, making sure the lamp used by this fitting is dimmable. If you use downlights, make sure you get dimmable light bulbs with it and, with the pull of a switch, you can dim them! Please note: when it comes to dimming the LED lights, things get a bit tricky. The DIMPULL doesn't work with LED lamps, and the wall dimmer has to be an LED dimmer in order to work with the dimmable LED lamps. Also, please note: it is recommended to use a registered qualified electrician to do the work of replacing switches and light fittings in the bathroom.