Technical questions

You can also contact us for short technical questions. If you have not yet purchased the goods to which the questions relate and these questions take up more than 2 minutes, we will be obliged to switch to the light advice tariff.

Dimmers allow you to control the light intensity yourself. They create a unique atmosphere in the room that you can adjust according to your mood. In addition, you also save energy by dimming a lamp. Win-win!

These are the most commonly used dimming systems 

1-10V dimmers

This system makes for a perfect professional dimming method in the 0-100% light intensity range and allows you to preset lighting scenes when using home automation. It’s an analogue dimming technology in which a signal is given between 1 and 10 volts or potentiometer (100K linear). This requires two control wires between the power supply and the dimmer, a limited number of power supplies when using a potentiometer, and a main switch is needed to turn the lighting system on and off. A limited number of power supplies is allowed when using a potentiometer.

DALI dimmers

Digital Addressable Light Interface (DALI) is a universal standard for digital dimming systems and one of the most frequently used, regardless of the project scale. Unlike the analogue light settings, it allows you to dim each device separately, as each power supply gets an address. This way each device can be controlled independently from the other. The lamps can also return signals, making it flexible and economical to adjust the lighting. Integration into building management systems is quite simple. As a leading company in lighting and a member of DiiA, we embrace new technologies: the transition to DALI-2 was a logical next step. 

Dimming by switch dim (push button)

A low-cost installation that works with the push of a button, this provides perfect dimming in the 0 to 100% range. Things to keep in mind are the limited number of power supplies that can be dimmed with the same button ( max 5), this to prevent synchronisation problems and the need for 2 extra control wires.

Falling edge dimming on mains (FE)

There are two techniques for phase-dimming: trailing edge systems (also called falling edge) and leading edge systems. With this way of dimming, there’s an extra device, the dimmer, connected to the main input of the power supply. No extra control wires are needed and you can add it to your existing installation(s). This option allows for dimming between 30 and 100%, depending on the type of falling edge dimmer you’re using. A few things to consider are: blinking may happen when dimming to a minimum, and not all of them are compatible with LED. Furthermore it is recommended to use a dimmer of the type trailing edge.

LED lighting is the best choice for anyone who consciously wants to minimise their ecological footprint. LED lighting is fully recyclable and lasts longer. In addition, it does not contain any harmful substances (such as mercury, which is present in fluorescent tubes) and you use less energy with LED lighting.

Light colour is expressed in Kelvin and is also sometimes called colour temperature. You can choose from various colour temperatures to create different atmospheres. You have very warm light (1700K - 3300K) good for a cosy atmosphere and cool light (3400K - 5000K) good for general lighting.

In addition, in the better LED lighting, you can also apply dim-to-warm or tunable white.

Dim-to-warm, also called warm-dim and abbreviated to DTW, is what you get when you turn your lamp to a lower intensity when dimming and it also becomes more yellow. The effect of a setting sun. The higher the sun is, the higher the colour temperature. When the sun sets, the sky will also become more yellow and the lower the Kelvin value will be. With Tunable White, e.g. the designation 1800K - 6500K TW, at full intensity you can decide for yourself how yellow or how white your light is. This is separate from the RGB, RGBW or RGB-WW LED lighting that is often used in LED strips.

You must be extremely careful when connecting current-controlled spotlights. Never connect a LED to the power supply when it is under voltage. When you put a led power supply under voltage and the led is connected, the led itself will draw its voltage/current, also called Forward Voltage, from the power supply. If you connect a current-powered LED to a LED power supply that is already live, it is going to give its full power, in this case forward voltage, and cause the LED to flash/flash, making it broken and ready for the trash. Of course you can replace it. It is best not to do this to avoid unnecessary costs.

As an example, we take LED lamps that can operate at 350 mA or 500 mA, with a power per lamp of 5.8 W at 350 mA and 8.6 W at 500 mA.
The maximum current these lamps may receive is 500 mA. Lowering the current is allowed, but never exceeding it.
Never connect constant-current LEDs to a powered driver.
If the circuit does not work or you suspect something is wired incorrectly, first disconnect the power, check the wiring, and then test again.
If LEDs are connected while the driver is powered, they can be irreversibly damaged.
Indeed, an unloaded constant-current driver outputs its full voltage (Vf – forward voltage).
What you usually see is just a brief flash, but the LED will then be defective.

In dimmable applications, we generally choose a driver with the highest current rating.
In other words: for LEDs that can operate at 350 mA or 500 mA, it is best to use a 500 mA driver or a multipower driver.

On our website, we usually offer four types of drivers as necessary options:
• Non-dimmable
• Triac dimmable (leading-edge or trailing-edge phase-cut)
• 1–10 V dimmable
• DALI dimmable

You can use one driver per lamp, or one driver for multiple LEDs.
However, this poses a pitfall for the (hobby) installer:
multiple lamps must be connected in series, and the forward voltage (Vf) must be calculated correctly, within the minimum and maximum values of the driver.
If you want to keep it simple, use one driver per lamp.

Calculating the Correct Driver
The forward voltage (Vf) is calculated as follows:
Take the power (in watts) and divide it by the current (in amperes).
Since the current is given in milliamperes (mA), divide it first by 1000.

Example 1:
An LED of 5.8 W at 350 mA →
5.8 W ÷ 0.35 A = 16.57 Vf

Example 2:
The same LED at 500 mA (8.6 W) →
8.6 W ÷ 0.5 A = 17.2 Vf

To calculate multiple LEDs in series, do not add the mA, but the Vf values.
For example:
A double spotlight of 8.6 W at 500 mA → 17.2 Vf × 2 pieces = 34.4 Vf

If you use a driver with a range of, for example, 2 – 112 Vf (both at 350 mA and 500 mA),
you can connect 6 spots of 8.6 W at 500 mA:
17.2 Vf × 6 pcs = 103.2 Vf

Summary
• Never use a higher current than allowed.
• Never connect LEDs while the driver is powered.
• Calculate the forward voltage (Vf) carefully when wiring in series.
• For simplicity and safety: one driver per lamp.