Studies show that the most significant portion of household bills comes from electricity bills. The increase in the number of household appliances that use electricity from fridges to the basic ones like bulbs is the reason for the increased electricity bills. Since the other household appliances like fridges or air conditioning among several others have to be kept running hence energy cannot be saved by turning them off, the only option for energy-saving goes waters down to the lights. Dimmable LED by far is the cheapest and most energy-efficient form of lighting technology in the market, with more and more people opting for dimmable LED lambs as their choice of smart lighting.
Types of LED dimming technology for lambs
- Phase-cut dimming
LED lamps are generally operated and powered using electronic drivers. Concerning this form of dimming technology, the illumination that is produced is dimmed by cutting the phase of the AC current. Under phase-cut dimming, there are two options;
- TRIAC, SCR dimmer
Here, the bulb is turned during a particular phase of the AC sine then it is turned off when the AC sine level is at zero. It can also be referred to as the Forward phase-controlled dimmer.
- Electronic edge dimmer
Here, the end of the AC input is turned off completely. It can, therefore, be used for low voltage transformers or electronic drivers.
2. IGBT dimming technology
This type of dimming technology is entirely digital. Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors allow the user the ability to turn the dimmer on and off at any time. It features a forward and a reverse phase dimmer that can either be set to automatic or selected by the user. This technology is compatible with the latest LED drivers that employ reverse-phase operation. It is also one of the most energy-efficient of the LED dimmer technologies, and it is a reliable dimming technology that offers an adjustable variety of dimming transitions. Under this type of dimming technology, there is;
- Sine wave dimmer technology
- RFC IGBT dimmer technology
3. Pulse Wave Dimmer Technology
This type of dimming technology also falls on the category of digital dimming technology. Here, in place of adjusting DC currents, you can achieve dimming on your bulb only by varying the duty cycle of the constant flow. It works by altering the input current of the lamb in use at a very high frequency, which results in the alteration of the percentage output of light. This technology is mostly used in LED lambs that have to maintain color consistency even when they are dimmed down to less than 50 percent output. This technology is, therefore, suitable for LED light bulbs with constant voltage.
Conclusion
There are two categories of dimming technologies to choose from. These categories are the analog and digital type. Under the analog, class is applied in LED lambs with leading-edge dimming drivers, those with electronic drivers, and those with 0-10v drivers. On the other hand, the digital category is used in LED bulbs with high output frequency drivers, single fixtures, those with dimmable drivers, and those with RGB and RGBW led control elements.
