Button dimmers

Button dimmers

Push-button dimmers belong to a fairly large group of lighting regulators used in electrical installation. Their function is to reduce the intensity of lighting in order to improve the user's comfort, when artificial light is only intended to provide basic visibility and its high intensity is not necessary.

Installation and modular push button dimmers

Dimmers available on the market can be divided into installation dimmers, i.e. those that are mounted directly in the room, just like other electrical equipment, and intended for installation in switchboards. Installation dimmers are usually manufactured as flush-mounted (rotary, push-button, push-button-rotary, remote control) and look like ordinary lighting switches, while switchgears are usually modular devices for mounting on a TH35 rail cooperating with buttons.

Regulator for incandescent, halogen, fluorescent and LED lighting

Modern lighting dimmers are mostly electronic devices, therefore they enable cooperation not only with traditional incandescent bulbs (this was also ensured by old dimmers based on a potentiometer), but also with fluorescent lamps, i.e. energy saving bulbs and light emitting diodes.

Depending on a specific product, the dimmer can support one of the types of lighting, two or even all available (so-called universal dimmers). The lighting controller can change the brightness:

1. conventional incandescent lamps, now sold as "special". In this case, the dimmer serves only to change the brightness of the lighting, not bringing savings,
2. energy-saving bulbs, i.e. fluorescent lamps that can only work with dimmers dedicated to this type of lighting. Again, the economic benefits are not noticeable
3. halogen lamps, but in this case the dimmer operation is economically justified. Halogen lighting 230 V and powered by a transformer is characterized by the generation of large amounts of heat, which in turn significantly shortens the life of light sources. Reducing the brightness of halogens also means lowering the temperature of their operation, and therefore a longer life,
4. lighting LED . Light-emitting diodes require precise regulation of the current parameters due to the low tolerance of intensity changes. The use of dimmers does not increase the long life of the LEDs, nor does it reduce the low energy costs for LEDs, it only regulates the lighting intensity.

Installation push button dimmers

Button dimmers Installation is one of the many possible options for adjusting the brightness of the lighting, which can also be implemented through the rotary or pressure-rotary function. There are also touch dimmers on the market, or touch dimmers that allow infrared remote control , but button dimmers, right next to the rotary ones, are the largest group of products of this type.

Installation pressure-sensitive dimmers are usually in the form of a momentary button. Although they can perform their function in various ways, most often they work in such a way that a single, short press of them switches on the lighting, longer, with holding down, reduces the brightness of the light, and another pressing and holding it increases it. Another short press of the button disconnects the circuit at any time.

Modular push button dimmers

Another way to regulate the lighting is to build a system consisting of a modular dimmer installed in the electrical switchboard and many buttons located at different points in the room. The dimmer controlled by buttons works in the same way as the installation dimmer - short presses turn on/off the lighting, while longer presses regulate the brightness.

Modular dimmers usually provide more functionality than installation dimmers, they are often manufactured as universal ones, designed to control many types of lighting, and also programmable , allowing to adjust the speed of dimming the light.