Understanding TRIAC or other lighting dimming options

Diy.2020

Understanding TRIAC or other lighting dimming options

Hi, We have a newly wired house (including neutral wiring) and I am buying a new light for a kitchen island. It comes as a regular light with a dimming button on it (which we wont be able to reach easily), or with a series of other options that I am trying to understand (see below). I want to be able to control it using apple homekit/philips hue/homeassistant (which I havent setup or built as yet) from an app and a wall switch, so I would appreciate advice re which is the dimming option I need to get with the light. I also want it to integrate with what I will do with other spots and lights in the kitchen/living area - I want to be able to set up automations/scenes etc hence I dont want to have to use one app for this light, and another app for the other spots etc. Im new to all this but relatively techy, but the light is expensive and not something I want to get wrong, so any advice would be appreciated. 

These are the dimming options available: 

TRIAC

CASAMBI

DALI

PUSH-DIM

1-10 Volt Dimming

And this is the info sheet on the light itself which has more detail: 

https://presscloud.com/file/77/778574885417269/ANOUR-FAQ-2024.pdf

Also, and slightly separately but related, I need to find 8mm wide LED strip for under kitchen cabinets (the housing is already in) that will also link in to the overall system. Any wording for the tech I need to look up would be helpful, as the mainstream philips hue is too wide for the strip. Can i get a regular LED strip and a dimmable driver, and then control it from a smart wired wall switch? 

Thanks 

Carrie 

10-10-20

Hi,

I had a look at each of these options as they are relatively well documented in that PDF.

Triac - Uses PWM dimming and what's called leading-edge or trailing edge dimming. These are usually classed as "LED dimmers" available from standard retailers. You can integrate these into home automation systems with relative ease. Look at the Shelly Dimmer 2 device for integration.

Casambi - closed source, bluetooth based, poor integration into home automation systems.
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/casambi-ble-light-support/91068/147

Dali - Hardwired control (5-core wire?), relatively good integration into home automation systems.
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/dali-integeration/541356

PUSH-DIM - This appears to be a simple cycle dimmer where you have a push-button on the wall which you just hold the button to start the light dimming, then when you release and re-push the button it brightens again, and so-forth.

1-10 Volt Dimming - Uses a little controller which outputs 1 to 10 volts to vary the intensity of the light. You can typically integrate those into home automation systems with an extra controller.

https://www.lamps-on-line.com/leading-trailing-edge-led-dimmers

https://kb.shelly.cloud/knowledge-base/shelly-dimmer-2-web-interface-guide : "Depending on your bulb, you can pick leading or trailing edge from the drop-down menu under Dimming type."

This man in Mayo does supply 8mm LED strips and kits as well as profiles (I presume you mean to create your own strips?), I have ordered one off him before:

https://www.futureled.ie/12v-led-strips/512-942-5m-led-strip.html#product-details

https://www.futureled.ie/97-profiles-for-led-strip

Go for a good quality LED strip, not the cheap-ass multicoloured ones. 😁

Hope it helps!