Many companies are transitioning to using dimmable LED bulbs for commercial lighting.
The two major reasons for this are energy bill cost saving and the ability to dim the lighting.
Read on to know more about dimmable LED lights in commercial use.
What makes LED Lights Dimmable?
The dimmability of LEDs depends on their controlling driver.
All LEDs feature a driver unit that converts AC to DC to ensure that they run at the stipulated low voltage direct current.
In other words, the diode(s) inside LEDs cannot run at the mains 110V/220V AC.
In most small LEDs, especially for residential application, the driver circuit is found inside the bulb.
However, there’s one important thing to not about most LEDs found in commercial lighting fixtures like downlights, large panels, and spotlights.
The LED drivers for such commercial lighting fixtures are normally separate from the fixture, allowing convenient wiring of dimming control lines.
Dimmable LED lights in Offices – The Merits
Minimizing operation costs:
LED lights, in and of themselves, consume less energy that traditional lights like fluorescent lighting.
Dimmability extends LED advantages, ensuring that energy use is reduced especially after dimming the LEDs in certain office areas (where full light intensity is unnecessary).
Finally, the lengthy lifespan of LEDs means that the average cost over time is minimal.
Enhancing employee productivity:
LEDs have high brightness, high color rendering index (CRI), and dimmability, which ensure optimal illumination and setting suitable ambience for employees.
Altogether, these factors see enhanced work efficiency due to discomfort elimination.
Flexible office lighting:
Dimmable LEDs can be adjusted to meet the illumination requirements of different scenes.
In essence, one light can flexibly provide lighting for various purposes including art display, product display, boardrooms, etc.
LEDs are environmentally friendly:
During operation, LEDs emit very little heat thus providing very conducive working environments for employees.
This eliminates the need for unnecessary air conditioning – reducing overall energy demand.
Also, LEDs do not contain harmful elements like mercury that may pose hazards to the environment when recycling.
What Types of Dimmers used to Dim LED light bulbs?
0-10 Volts DC dimmers
0-10V dimmers are most popular for commercial applications. Why? A dedicated 0-10V control signal drives the light dimming.
The lower the control signal, the lower the LED brightness. The reverse is true, a higher control signal means a brighter LED.
For better context, 0V DC equates to least brightness while 10V is the maximum brightness.
Although many dimmers are compatible with dimmable LEDs, 0-10V dimmers are the best, due to their convenience and compatibility with light controls such as DALI.
Leading-edge dimmers
The most popular employ TRIAC technology.
These dimmers slice the beginning portion of AC waveforms, thus reducing the average current that flows via an LED, minimizing the brightness.
This dimming method works flawlessly with traditional lighting e.g. incandescent bulbs (where mains AC voltage is typical).
However, LED applications show light flickering or humming due to harmonics arising from slicing portions of the AC mains voltage.
Trailing-edge dimmers
Unlike trailing-edge dimmers, these are more suitable for low voltage applications like in LEDs.
Why? They offer smoother control without causing unwanted light characteristics such as flickering.
They are compatible with all dimmable LEDs and therefore a worthy consideration – but not as much as 0-10V dimmers.
