Are LED String Lights Dimmable?

Over the years, LED lights have proven to be extremely valuable for a broad array of applications, both in residential and commercial lighting. LED bulbs can also be easily retrofitted into plenty of standard fittings in moments, replacing current halogen, fluorescent, and incandescent bulbs.

Though you could flash the majority of the pre-wired sets of LED light strings on and off, don’t attempt to ramp them up in brightness by changing the input voltage because flashing LED light strings on and off will significantly decrease your LED lights lifespan.

With that being said, let’s move forward and have a look at the answer to the most commonly asked question, “Are LED string lights dimmable?”, Yes, they are!

What’s more interesting is that with the help of a dimmer, you can easily dim the Led string lights according to your mood, without worrying too much about brightness.

But, keep in mind that not all LEDs are dimmable.

This means, in some scenarios, you will be required to examine the bulb you’re about to purchase to ensure it fits you and your needs best — particularly if you’re replacing other bulb types with LEDs and want them to be able to dim.

Why Choose Dimmable LED Lights?

It’s becoming increasingly common for rooms to serve numerous purposes in the house. For instance, a kitchen could be somewhere to eat in the morning and at night; however, becomes an office during working hours.

Dimmable LED lighting offers the flexibility of optimizing light in order to match the current activity. For example, one may want an energetic and bright light for productive working during daytime and dimmed light for a relaxing meal in the evening.

The same applies in industrial and commercial environments. Adding dimmable LED light strings provide flexibility, enabling staff to adjust the lighting according to their mood and preferences.

Is your LED light dimmable?

The most straightforward answer is: it varies. Therefore, in order to make sure, check the following two things:

First: Assess whether the LED states explicitly that it is dimmable in the product description, technical specification, or the product’s box. In case you opt for a non-dimmable LED on a dimmer, you’ll get flickering and damage the bulb, significantly decreasing the lifespan of the LED.

Second: Make sure your dimmer is LED compatible. In case you are replacing incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs, you most probably have a leading-edge dimmer. These are specifically developed to work with a high wattage, so they don’t work for low wattage LED bulbs.

You’ll need to replace this dimmer with a trailing edge dimmer, which is particularly designed to work seamlessly with low voltage LED lights.

How are LED lights dimmed?

To understand how LED lights dim, it’s worth comparing LEDs to incandescent bulbs for a moment.

Incandescent bulbs generate light by producing a wire filament so hot that it glows. In order to make it dim, just supply less voltage, and the wire won’t get as hot, and will result in less light.

LED bulbs, however, generate light from a diode, which only has 2 states. It is either ON and producing light, or OFF and completely dark.

You can buy some of the most efficient and trendy dimmable LED lights of up to 150W at LED Lights Unlimited.