Don't miss a new LED article that has been added to the site. It is already proving very popular, ranking among the most-viewed. See - LEDs can be light bulbs.Technology Editor, Steve Bush, asks What do you have to do to make an LED-based light bulb behave just like the real, inefficient, thing?
The article begins:
Beyond getting enough light, the first big battle is working with the huge installed base of dimmers, all designed to work with incandescent loads.Read the full article >>
Domestically, dimmers are connected in series with the light bulb and work by conduct for a variable part of the mains cycle.
When the dimmer's triac or mosfet is off, the dimmer continues to need a load to maintain its timing circuits.
"Dimming is one of the great problems," Jacques le Berre, business development director at NXP told Electronics Weekly. "LED lamps with equivalent light output take only a tenth of the current."
Comments (2)
A very interesting bit of technology, and one that I've been following too! Changing technology can be difficult, and I do appreciate that some companies are working to make LEDs compatible with the existing infrastructure.
I'll admit, though, that when I look at the complexity of the support parts for these dimming IC's, I wonder if it is too much. Would it be cheaper to just sell a simple replacement for the existing dimmer modules?
In the big picture, these are just minor details. Right now, I'm waiting for the price of LEDs to come down so I can afford to build some solid state room lighting!
regards,
Steve Kurt
Posted by Steve Kurt | May 21, 2010 2:59 AM
Posted on May 21, 2010 02:59
I have been gathering parts to convert the lighting in one of my rooms to leds.
Luckily, I read this article just before I ordered the ballasts, which were to be fixed output devices.
Frustratingly, all the dimmable ballast I can find on the web are the the type that require additional wiring rather than a normal dimmer.
Any ideas anyone?
'Alice'
Posted by 'Alice' | May 27, 2010 3:41 PM
Posted on May 27, 2010 15:41