Programmable Light Dimmer
Did you ever wish you could have the lights in your home slowly dim up and down like the dome light in some of the new cars today? What if the light in your child's bedroom that always gets left on would turn itself off automatically? Wouldn't it be nice if your light bulbs would last a lot longer?
IRC's new line of programmable dimmers will do all this and much more at the touch of a finger. Each dimmer switch features touch-sensitive switches with an LED indicator and audible feedback. The upper sensor is for up and lower one is for down. The dimmer may be operated in one of two ways. 1) Briefly touching the sensor will ramp the light level at a pre-programmed rate. Touching either up or down while the light is ramping will then stop it and hold the light at that level. 2) Touching the sensor and holding it will ramp the light until the sensor is released.
The LED on the dimmer goes to full intensity when the light is ramping and functions as an indicator light while programming the dimmer switch. When the switch is not in use the LED remains at low intensity, which functions as a night-light.
The IRC dimmer has three programmable functions.
1 ) Ramp Rate
To program the ramp rate (default is 3 seconds) you must touch the up portion of the switch for at least 5 seconds after the light has reached full intensity. The LED will then flash signifying entry into programming mode. When you release the button the LED will remain on and the light level will change instantaneously to the level that indicates the current ramp rate setting. Then touch the up and down sensors to adjust the ramp rate. Each time a sensor is pressed the light level will change discretely to indicate the new ramp setting. If no sensor is pressed for 5 seconds, the dimmer will exit programming mode storing the last programmed ramp rate and the LED will turn off. The ramp rate may be set to 1, 3, 6, 15, or 30 seconds. In a closet you may want 1 second while in your bedroom you may want 30 seconds to give you enough time to casually walk across the room and tuck yourself into bed before the light dims all the way down.
2 ) Auto Turn-off
To program the auto turn-off period (default is infinity) you simply use the same procedure as above only using the down sensor. The period varies from 15, 30, 60, 120 minutes or infinity. In a closet or bath you may want to use the 15 minute setting while in your family room you would use the infinity setting. For that troublesome teenager that always leaves their lights on, use the 120 minute setting.
3 ) Light Level Preset
To preset a desired light level (default is full intensity) you must hold on both sensors and use the same method as programming the ramp rate and auto turn-off features. Once this is done the light will ramp up to this setting each time it is used. The level may then be adjusted up or down from that level.
By using dimmers that ramp the power to the bulbs instead of switches that turn the power on suddenly, your bulbs can last up to 100 times longer. When light bulb filaments are cold, they have very little resistance. This means that a 100 watt bulb will draw up to 20 amps of current for several milliseconds until the filament has reached maximum heat and resistance. This puts tremendous mechanical stresses on the filament. Ever notice how most bulbs burn out as they are being turned on? Ramping the power gives the filament time to heat up. 
Another advantage to the IRC Dimmer is 3-ways. Three way and four way switches or dimmers are used when multiple switches turn on/off the same light(s). Most 3-way dimmers and switches are more expensive than single pole dimmers. However, the IRC Dimmer system uses a master/slave type arrangement. Many slave dimmers may be attached to a single master dimmer giving the slave the same functionality as their master. There is actually no way to tell which is the master and which are slaves. The slaves are much simpler than the master and less expensive. While these switches are fully compatible with existing wiring, the slave operates on just 5 volts. Therefore, when wiring a new home only the master switch must have high voltage wiring while the slave may be wired with small gauge wiring like doorbell wire. Email us to find out more.
