Pressure Sensitive Touch Light Switch

[irth1ing]

hi, found this in amazon, but strangely it stated it's suitable for incandescent lamp but not for energy saving lamp... is there any reasons for this???? what will happen if i do use enery saving bulb??

i wanted to place 2 in the hallway and wonder if this is suitable for the job. any expertise here can give me any pointers..

cheers.

[peterb]

Incandescent lights are essentially a resistive load, energy saving lamps with conventional ballasts are reactive, and can cause damage to electronic switches.

Modern energy saving lamps usually have electronic regulators which perform better, but may not perform so well if the input waveform is distorted, which may happen with an electronic switch.. Electronic switches also need a minimum load to operate correctly, which a low energy lamp may be too low.

You cannot dim energy saving lights unless you use a lamp designed for for dimming and then with the correct control gear, so if the unit you are looking at has any dimming function, it cannot be used with energy saving lamps

[Spreadie]

You cannot dim energy saving lights unless you use a lamp designed for for dimming and then with the correct control gear, so if the unit you are looking at has any dimming function, it cannot be used with energy saving lamps

You can use standard dimmer switches with LED spots/downlighters though, can't you?

[irth1ing]

Incandescent lights are essentially a resistive load, energy saving lamps with conventional ballasts are reactive, and can cause damage to electronic switches.

by your statement, it is not a good idea to use it in the hallway??
i have no need for dimming, just wanted to have a delay switch off as the residents leaves the lights on all the time. does that mean i have to use one of these pneumatic switch.?? are there any alternatives as those switches are quite expensive compare to the other one..

thanks for your advice.

[kalniel]

You can use standard dimmer switches with LED spots/downlighters though, can't you?

Nope. LEDs require a fixed voltage to work. Standard dimmers dim by lowering the voltage, which for an incandescent bulb (only) results in less light. To dim an LED you can turn it on and off really quickly - the less time that it is on the dimmer it will be. Unsurprisingly, this isn't something standard dimmer switches do.

OP - there shouldn't be anything wrong with using a timer switch, however it's possible that that particular one happens to dim in and out, making it unsuitable. There's not really enough information to tell - I'd recommend going to a store and actually asking someone or asking to read the full instructions in the box.

[Spreadie]

Nope. LEDs require a fixed voltage to work. Standard dimmers dim by lowering the voltage, which for an incandescent bulb (only) results in less light. To dim an LED you can turn it on and off really quickly - the less time that it is on the dimmer it will be. Unsurprisingly, this isn't something standard dimmer switches do.

Good to know, thanks. I was considering replacing the spots in the dining room with LEDs, but the missus won't want me to remove the dimmer switch. Pointless TBH, we hardly ever use the things anyway!

[irth1ing]

OP - there shouldn't be anything wrong with using a timer switch, however it's possible that that particular one happens to dim in and out, making it unsuitable.

that means, if the unit do dims, i have to use incandescent bulb, and if it switches right off, i can get away with enery saving bulbs.. that's straight forward enough..

one last question,can this be used in a 3-way light switching, as it only got 2 wirings???

so nice to have experts in this forum..
much appreciated and thanks for your time.
cheers..

[peterb]

As Kalniel says, dimming LEDs requires a pulse width modulation dimmer. Varying the duty cycle (ie the ratio of on to off time varies the apparent average brilliance. The actual switching frequency is immaterial (provided it is above the frequency the eyes/brain detect as flicker)

Dimming compact fluorescents is similar in principle, although as the electrodes are heated, devices for dimming have four pins (like a conventional fluorescent tube) and the control gear operates at around 35KHz. Again, controlling the duty cycle varies the light output.

that means, if the unit do dims, i have to use incandescent bulb, and if it switches right off, i can get away with enery saving bulbs.. that's straight forward enough..

one last question,can this be used in a 3-way light switching, as it only got 2 wirings???

so nice to have experts in this forum..
much appreciated and thanks for your time.
cheers..

No. The switch needs to be a changeover switch. You would need a unit with a relay built in (which could also be used with CFL lamps)

[irth1ing]

No. The switch needs to be a changeover switch. You would need a unit with a relay built in (which could also be used with CFL lamps)

i see.. too bad then.. that means i have to go for the pricier pneumatic switches unit at about £15 each..

anyway, thanks again for taking your time explaining this to me. much appreciated..

regards,
irth.