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How To Find The Perfect Dimmers For Your Home

Sometimes, optimizing the lighting in your home can be as simple as a flip of a switch. You might already have light fixtures that perfectly match your home’s style. You might already have all three layers of lighting in each of your home’s rooms, which include ambient, task and accent. You might even already have made the switch to LED light bulbs for ultimate energy efficiency and brightness levels.

If you still feel something is missing when it comes to your lighting, you might benefit from a dimmer installation. Because even if you have all of these optimized lighting solutions, you’ll be amazed at the wonders a dimmer can do in a room. Dimmers add functionality to a room, making it usable for multiple tasks and occasions.

In today’s blog post, we’ll go over how you can find the perfect dimmers for your home to completely tie together your optimized lighting. If you’re looking for light fixtures or lighting accessories for your home or office, check out our Houston lighting store today.

At M&M Lighting, we’re proud to be the area’s top distributor of lighting products and ceiling fans. Visit us today to see for yourself!

Types Of Dimmers

Interior designers across the nation use dimmers as an easy way to dramatically improve a space’s lighting. A lot of new dimming technology can be accessed and adjusted through a smartphone, but you don’t have to get that fancy — you can install a simple switch, if that’s something that’s more up your alley.

When choosing a dimmer, you need to consider two primary factors — your lighting source and the dimming device you want to use. Make sure these two factors can be correctly paired up in order for your dimmer to work properly. Need help with this process? Schedule an appointment with one of our lighting experts.

Below, we’ve listed the main types of dimmers you can find for your home.

Standard/Rotary

The oldest type of dimmer in the book is the standard/rotary dimmer. This dimmer type essentially works like turning a spigot on a hose — depending on which way you turn it, the overall illumination of the bulb gets brighter or dimmer.

BEST FOR DIMMING:

  • Incandescent light bulbs
  • Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL)

Integrated

Some light fixtures come with their own controls and systems, and this may include a dimmer as well. We call these integrated dimmers, and light fixtures that come with these types of dimmers usually offer their own proprietary controls — often controlled by a remote.

CL

CL dimmers are a specific type of dimmer that were invented and developed in order to better work with CFL and LED lights. They work similarly to a traditional type of dimmer, but the technology is slightly different so that these dimmers can properly pair with CFL and LED bulbs instead of incandescent ones.

BEST FOR DIMMING:

  • Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL)
  • LED light bulbs

Electronic Low Voltage (ELV)

ELV dimmers are intentionally designed with an electronic driver that is required for most LED light fixtures.

BEST FOR DIMMING:

  • Incandescent low voltage systems (such as a rail system)
  • Integrated LED light bulbs

Magnetic Low Voltage (MLV)

MLV dimmers are intended to be used with a magnetic driver, which helps source power from the dimmer out to the fixture in a way the driver can best respond — without causing any damage to the driver hardware.

BEST FOR DIMMING:

  • Incandescent low voltage systems (such as a rail system)

0-10 Volt

This type of dimmer is most popular in Europe, but you can see it installed in the U.S. for commercial uses. Since this type of dimmer requires additional wiring than what we commonly use in the U.S, it’s best for newly wired buildings or buildings where rewiring won’t be an issue in the future.

BEST FOR DIMMING:

  • Fluorescent light bulbs
  • Integrated LED light bulbs
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Shop Dimmers In Our Houston Lighting Showroom

At M&M Lighting, we have one of the largest selections of lighting products and accessories in the area. Whether you’re looking for a dimmer to set the mood lighting in your bedroom or you want to hang an elegant crystal chandelier over your dining room table, we’re sure we have a light fixture or accessory that can help you achieve your dream lighting goals.

If you’re not sure where to start or you still need assistance finding a dimmer that will do exactly what you want it to, feel free to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced and trained lighting experts. Depending on what you want to use your dimmer for, we can connect you with one that will exceed your expectations.

On top of that, we only offer lighting products from the best brands in the nation, so you can rest assured that you dimmers will last you for the long run. Visit our Houston lighting store today to see our impressive selection in person.

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