Daylight Electrician Singapore Articles / Blog

Aside from making the house brighter, light installations also provide a wonderful compliment to a house’s interior and exterior finish. This is because it highlights its architectural aesthetics. But having too many light fixtures can get in the way of comfortable living too. For example, a very bright living room strains the eyes while watching television. Highly luminescent lightings may even attract unnecessary attention or disturb the neighbors.

Homeowners should never miss the means to control house lightings. For control, the simplest and most affordable so far is the use of dimmers. Dimmer switches look similar to conventional switches in hardware stores. But instead of switching the light on and off, its function is to adjust the brightness of lightings. Just like light switches, dimmers are readily available, and users can have them delivered or have an electrical installation done by an electrician.

Before buying or installing them, here are the things you should consider about dimmer switch:

Determine the Specific Light Dimmer Type That You’ll Be Using 

Dimmer switches come in different designs, and the light dimmer switch installation method and function also vary. The type of dimmer switch also determines the lightbulb compatibility. Whether expensive or cheap, a dimmer light will work excellently as long as it fits the users’ needs; this is also why it is important to know the most common dimmers in Singapore so you can choose the light switch for your house

• Single switch dimmers – this is an ideal dimmer to control the lighting in one go. Single switch dimmers are usually used for exterior lighting.
• Three-way dimmers – three-way dimmers control the lighting separately. For example, it may dim the lighting in the kitchen but leave the lighting in the living room operating normally and vice versa. Usually, three-way dimmer light switch is ideal for lightings that serve varying purposes.This can also go well with recessed lights.
• Wall Plug-In Dimmers – these are dimmers that connect themselves to an outlet. wall plug-in dimmers are ideal for lightings that utilise power sockets instead of switches to turn on.
• Multi-location Dimmers – multi-location light dimmers connect themselves to several lighting but do not control their brightness at once. they work similarly to three-way dimmers, but they are more suitable for 5 or more lightings.

Check Light Bulb Compatibility 

Residential lighting might come in the form of LED lights or fluorescent lights that is why light dimmers in Singapore are built around this specification. This means that some dimmers are solely built for LED, while others are solely built for fluorescent light bulbs. The amount of power that dimmer switch regulates is very dependent on compatibility. For example, installing LED-dedicated dimmers can only control the lumens of LED bulbs but will not have any effect on fluorescent light bulbs. Installation is also dependent on compatibility. For instance, LED dimmers usually bust incandescent dimmers the moment they are used after installation, or in most cases, LED light dimmers are tricky to connect to electrical lines for incandescent lights. No matter what kind of dimmers you choose, it is important to consult an electrical contractor to avoid installation problems.

Watt Limit 

Light dimmers can only control specific amounts of voltage as per their design, 8 volts, 10 volts, 12 volts, and so on. For example, a 15-volt multi-location dimmer won’t work for houses that use 7 3 volt bulbs. By this principle, 3 7 volts already amounts to 21 volts. This already exceeds the 15 volts capacity of a dimmer. The excess energy will still go to the bulbs, but the dimmer will be in poor performance. The Watt limit is hard to determine. Therefore, it’s best to leave the job to technicians with knowledgeable about lighting and dimmers. Licensed electricians are ready to help, they can assess and determine the watt limit and they can also give you a cost estimate based on their previous electrical works.

Control Style 

In Singapore, condominium and HDB electricians install modern dimmers that have different control styles to give homes a more sophisticated and modern feel. The innovative switch designs allow the homeowners to use the dimmers easily and efficiently. Here are some of the control style for dimmers that electricians usually do for electrical services:

• toggle dimmers – these are light dimmers that make use of a lever as a switch. toggling the lever up or down sets the dimmer to work. the inability to control the degree of dimming is a downside of toggle light dimmers
• slide dimmers – the slide dimmers use a sliding piece to adjust the dimming. aside from the sliding piece, there is also a switch (toggle or button) for turning the slide dimmers on or off.
• rotary dimmers – rotary dimmers use knobs to control the dimming. the knobs may come in a locking design for better control. just like slide dimmers, they also come with a switch to get working
• tap dimmers – these are integrated dimmers. getting them to work and controlling the dimming is done via taps. tap dimmers are very common in mid-range condominiums and apartments.

Special Features 

Some of the latest dimmers display has the latest technological advances, but they come at a higher price range. But to enjoy these features, it is important to find a reliable electrician         who can install these correctly and can get you your money’s worth. Electricians do this kind of installation and they also offer emergency electrical services according to your needs. Nevertheless, the latest dimmers can have trendy features like:

• WiFi and Bluetooth connection and the user can control the dimming or turn the light off via phone or laptop
• digital clock installed
• alarm clock installed dimmers (common in dimmers for bedroom)

Conclusion

In Singapore, electricians offering light switch replacement can also install dimmer switch. If you ever decide on buying one, it is important to consider the factors mentioned here so you will get the most out of your purchase. It will also help if you can consult an experienced electrician like Daylight Electrician before deciding to install one to make sure it is compatibility with your home.

Daylight Electrician Singapore provides complete electrical services including emergency electrician service in Singapore. Our network of electrical workers and EMA licensed electricians are specially trained to execute all kinds of electrical repairs and works including electrical installation such as light installation, ceiling fan installation, power failure recovery as well as electrical wiring and rewiring, power socket, electrical switches, light switches and DB Box replacement . We have over 10 years of electrician experience and have done thousands of electrical works for both residential (Landed, condo and HDB electrician) and commercial electrician. We are the highly recommended electrician in Singapore with many happy customers and positive reviews over the years both on Google and Facebook. WhatsApp us at +65 8241 0032 for transparent quotation and honest pricing for all your electrical needs. We offer a fast and efficient service to serve any of your electrical needs!