Can I use any off-the-shelf LED lights?

[brightworks]

Hi,

 

I was tasked to produce a musical light show by one of our clients who we helped import LED Christmas lights last year. The truth is I knew very little about this lights- music synchronization stuff. My online research led me to LOR, and I would like to ask anyone out there if I can use any off-the-shelf LED lights? I will also appreciate any advice for first-timers like me. Thank you.

[Steven]

Yes, many of us have used off-the-shelf LED lights. Most will work fine, although LEDs have different "dimming curves" than incandescent lights. This means, for example, that if you set the brightness to 25%, the LEDs may appear to be at full brightness. The only way to know for sure is to experiment. Other effects, like fully-on, off, shimmer, and twinkle will always work with LED strings.

 

One exception is some "retro" LED bulbs, which are single LED bulbs designed to fit into C-7 sockets. Some of these are not dimmable, and will be destroyed if you try to dim them.

 

Another exception is low-voltage LED lights that use a transformer. These are more common in 220-volt countries. Using LOR, you can only turn a circuit with a transformer on or off. Dimming or using shimmer will usually destroy the transformer.