Are there any dimable LED lights available, if so what is the brand name. Thanks Jay
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It is my understanding that you can dim any LED. I am installing ropes for a hall (I removed the rock, installed glass panels, etched designs on the panels and back-lighted them. This will replace the normal hall lights and the ropes will be dimmable.
Could you post more on this, including pictures, if you can? It sounds really nice.
That sounds cool. Give us a snap when it's finished, ok?
BTW, why use LED ropes? The conventional stuff I've used @ 120v burns only 6W/ft. and dims easily.
Edited 12/2/2007 7:39 pm ET by edlee
I asked someone at an LED online store if they were dimmable (I forget which store). He emailed back and said that they were to a point, then they abruptly shut off. So for normal LEDs, I am guessing they can't do a really low level dim.
Don't know if things have changed and they've come out with a purpose made dimmable LED. It was more than a year ago that I asked this.
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
LEDs, to operate properly, require a constant DC voltage or constant DC current, so dimming requires complexity and sacrifices but is achievable. Dimming improperly can cause color shifts etc. Pulse width modulation of the supply current is a good way.
Here is some data I found on the issue.
http://www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/newsarticles/News_Article_ECM_090104.pdf
I don't know the details, but I understand that LEDs are beginning to be used in theatrical lighting where dimming is essential.
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LEDs can be dimmed over a wide range, but it takes a special circuit to do it. The LED bulbs and rope lights you can buy for home use expect 120 Vac, or 12 Vdc for the landscape types. They really aren't designed for dimming by a standard dimmer circuit that only reduces the voltage. Like the ealier poster said, as the voltage drops, at some point they just go out.