I have recently had a huge number of queries and calls regarding 0-10 and 1-10v dimming and also DALI dimming, so I thought I would take this opportunity to explore this topic further.
What is “Commercial Dimming”?
Commercial dimming is the process of dimming large number of lights or specialised lighting suited to a specific situation, for example:
- A vehicle workshop will have high bay lights of high output
- A retail outlet will have specialised lighting to highlight product
- A warehouse will have lighting different to both of the above
If any of these types of lighting require lighting control, this can be achieved by any of the following commercial dimming protocols (there are more options which we will investigate in another article):
DALI Dimming
DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) dimming is commonly used in government buildings and areas where a building management system is integrated. DALI is also adaptable to smaller installations where individual or group lighting control is required.
- DALI operates through a specific driver and operates on a 2-wire bus system.
- The addressable part of DALI is set by using the numbers on the controller. The number you give the device will be what is termed the ‘device address’. This address is used to allow the light to be operated individually or as part of a larger group. This will depend on how the DALI software is configured.
0-10 and 1-10v Dimming
0-10 and 1-10v dimming is a form of dimming used in industrial and commercial situations where multiple lights may need to be dimmed from one location.
- 0/1-10v dimming uses two wires which come straight out of the driver apart from the 240v AC wiring used to power the driver, these 0/1-10v dimming wires are generally Grey – /Purple + and they are polarity conscious.
- 0-10v means the light fitting will dim to 0% or off.
- 1-10v means the light fitting will dim to a minimum level of around 10%.
As you can see from the diagrams, these are vastly different forms of dimming compared to standard Phase Cut, Triac, Leading and Trailing Edge dimming protocols.
Kind Regards
Wayne Crookes – Product Support