Why dimmers are different for normal and LED bulbs when both are connected to normal power?

Question

The title 😀

I would understand it for LED strips and so on, but if both bulbs are made for 230V (or whatever in US), why do they need different dimmers? Is there a difference in some dim range or something?

Thanks.

In: 14

Answer 1

LED’s run on much lower voltages than the 110 Volts that services your home. Most of the lightbulb’s base is a transformer/rectifier that converts alternating power from the light socket to a much lower DC voltage.

LEDs have only one brightness. To “dim” the bulb, a small microcontroller pulses the LEDs on and off at a frequency far higher than the eye can discern. By varying the proportion of on time during each on/off cycle, you control the perceived brightness.

It’s called “duty cycle”. The LED is brightest when it is on 100 percent of the time. At a 50 percent duty cycle, it is about half as bright, etc.

The dimmer sends a signal to the microcontroller telling it what brighten thr user desires, and the microcontroller responds by shortening or lengthenjng the duty cycle.