Technical Details to Note

We know that LEDs are effective semiconductor devices to convert electricity to light. Unlike traditional tungsten bulbs and fluorescent tubes, the semiconductor manufacturers can produce LED chips with high luminous efficacy (measured in lumen-per-watt) and precise color temperature values (measured in Kelvin (K)) unpreceded with traditional lamps. The energy-saving benefits and extended product longevity have served as the base for the broad adoption of LED lighting. Additionally, LED lights have another unparalleled advantage over traditional lamps. We can control LED lights easily for specific purposes. Our development has provided standard electrical devices for LED Dimming and Color Temperature Tunable solutions in the past few years.

As a LED lighting solution provider, we'd like to provide customers with the necessary building blocks to build the solutions most suitable for their needs, not limited to a single solution. In this section, we'd focus on interesting and practical topics for customers and prospects to better understand their rationale. After that, readers should be able to select dimmable LED drivers to match their downlights, Tunable White LED Fixtures, etc. Interested prospects and customers can download our marketing brochures and product manuals in the Support section for their perusal. They may also visit our Retail Partners, who have installed our solutions, to experience themselves.

How to Choose Products for a LED Dimming Project?

Once in a while, we'd meet Designers or End-Users who are in the early stage of selecting their dimmable products or are interested in upgrading existing non-dimmable lights to be dimmable. For example, an interested art gallery manager would like to understand the lighting effects, ask about the costs, track lights available, implementation, and operation details. As dimmable projects are slightly different from the usual lighting projects, interested prospects shall consider the following basic concepts in their dimmable product selection.

Firstly, since dimming is about controlling the brightness intensity, LED drivers have a decisive role in determining whether a dimming function is available to an LED luminaire. If the light fixture is not dimmable, we won't be able to dim the light even after installing a dimmer. Whether the light fixture is dimmable or not is determined by whether the LED driver supports a dimmable function. If the driver supports dimming, how are they controlled? If dimming is required, prospects must raise this requirement at the outset, which would change the subsequent product selection completely.

In the case of LED fixtures powered by external LED drivers, such as LED downlights, if the original downlights only come with non-dimmable LED drivers, Electricians or lighting professionals should require a dimmable driver replacement. This endeavor requires some basic tests to understand the DC operations of the LED string. After the electrical tests, we then narrow down the driver selection by physical dimensions, market accessibility, and unit price.

In terms of dimmable LED driver selection, we shared our experience by selecting dimmable LED drivers for some randomly selected LED downlights in our related section or LED Dimmable Drivers Selection Application Notes. Interested customers can also refer to our co-brand product marketing leaflet to select appropriate Meanwell LED Driver (PCD Series) for their projects. Furthermore, besides the fixed output versions, we'd also introduce Selectable Constant Current Output Phase Dimmable LED Drivers.

Product Compatibility

Secondly, customers shall explore the dimmable drivers' quality and the compatibility of dimmer-and-driver products to ensure the dimming performance can meet expectations. The compatibility tests should include the number of dimmable fixtures an individual phase dimmer can support. It also boils down to the usual parameters (lumen output level, color temperature, beam angle). As we now offer our lights as a complete solution, interested customers can save the hassle by getting in touch with us in the early stage of their next dimmable project. See our dimmable lights. For prospects who already have lighting fixtures chosen, please also contact us for dimming-related context.