Trailing Edge Or Leading Edge Dimmer For Led

If your dimmer switch is old it s likely a leading edge switch and worth changing to a trailing edge version.

Trailing edge or leading edge dimmer for led. Trailing edge dimming technology is undoubtedly more complex and slightly costlier than its leading edge predecessor. Trailing edge dimmable led lamps are available in both leading and trailing edge versions depending on the manufacturer so it is important to be sure what led dimmer type you re looking at to make sure that they are suitable for your specific application. Common problems that can occur with dimmable gu10s on a triac dimmer are buzzing at the dimmer flashing and flickering at low dim reduced dimming range and variable performance based on the number of lamps controlled by one dimmer. Although a 400w trailing edge dimmer may be able to power 400w of incandescent lamps with ease when it comes to leds the maximum load is only 10 of this.

Leading edge and trailing edge. A trailing edge dimmer has a lower minimum load than leading edge dimmers making it a better choice for dimming modestly sized low powered lighting circuits. Trailing edge dimming electronic dimming utilizes a current that is turned off as the ac waveform ends right before it crosses zero. Leading edge dimming is typically used with incandescent bulbs and produces a rush of voltage every half cycle resulting in a rush of current to the light source.

Trailing edge dimmers are a better fit for led lamps. There are two types of dimmer switch for mains dimming in your home. It also boasts additional features such as soft start multi channel silent running and smooth control dimming capabilities. Now you may ask which dimmer is better for led lighting generally trailing edge is the most popular dimmer with led light sources.

The difference between the two is that with a leading edge dimmer after voltage increases post zero crossing this dimmer inhibits for a while. The dimmer market mostly has the two kinds mentioned previously leading edge and trailing edge dimmers. Output brightness is controlled as energy being transferred is properly metered. However because led retrofit lamps are more likely to be installed on existing dimmers used for incandescent or halogen lamps many manufacturers design and test their led lamps to be compatible with leading edge dimmers.

Trailing edge is also better for filament lamps too if ever the op were to swap back to halogens the soft. Leapfrog lighting is no exception. However when finding the perfect dimmer you should look at the specifications of led and driver as well as dimmer to see the compatibility. However crucially it s led friendly.

Using trailing edge dimmers with leds the 10 rule is very important when using trailing edge dimmers with leds.