Choosing a Domestic Dimmer – Selection Guide
Step by step dimmer selection guide
Follow these easy steps to decide which FUTRONIX home dimmer is best for you:
| Step |
Details |
| Decide where you want to put the light switches/dimmers. |
The usual location is near entrances. |
|
Decide which lights will be on the same circuit and which switch will control that circuit. |
A circuit can be thought of as the set of lights that are controlled by a given dimming channel.
Bear in mind that some types of light (for example compact fluorescent) cannot be dimmed and therefore cannot be on the same circuit as lights that are to be dimmed. You will need to put these switching-only lights on a separate circuit. |
| Calculate the maximum total power for each circuit. |
To do this, add together the power rating of each of the bulbs in that circuit. For example, if you have three 100W bulbs on one circuit, then this circuit consumes: 3 x 100 Watts = 300 Watts. |
| Decide which Futronix dimmer has the required number of circuits without exceeding its power requirements. |
Having decided the power requirements of each circuit and the number of circuits you can decide the Futronix product best suited to you. Use the following table:
| Model |
Channels |
Max Load Per Circuit (Watts) |
Maximum Dimmer Load (Watts) |
Dimensions (mm)
H, W, D |
| P100 |
2 |
300W |
600W |
65 x 65 x 47mm |
| P400 |
4 |
300W |
1200W |
88 x 108 x 45mm |
| P800 |
8 |
600W |
2000W |
95 x 152 x 45mm |
|
| Double check that the dimmer is NOT overloaded. |
Although the power requirements of each individual circuit are in the required range, make sure you don’t exceed the maximum total power rating of the dimmer. For example the P800 has 8 circuits each rated at 600 Watts each. But the maximum total power is only 2000 Watts (which is less than 8 x 600 Watts). |
Setting up the Dimmer
Having decided which dimmer and purchased it, you perform the following extra two steps to complete the installation process:
| Step |
Details |
| Group the circuits you want to dim into zones. |
With the P800 domestic dimmer you can set up to four zones. When you have set the zones you can create scenes for that zone. A zone is a separate room or area.
The P100 and P400 domestic dimmers only have one zone. |
| Create the scenes. |
Each of the circuits in a particular zone can have different lighting levels. These set of lighting levels forms a ‘scene’. |
