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Interior Design vocabulary · Lighting

Dimmer

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˈdɪmə/nounCore term

In interior design, dimmer means: A switch or control that changes how bright a light is, so the same room can feel bright for work and soft in the evening.

In Turkish: dimmer, ışık ayar anahtarı

How it is used

Also called a dimmer switch. Lights are put on a dimmer or described as dimmable. With LEDs, both the lamp or driver and the dimmer must be compatible, or the light may flicker or buzz. The verb is dim: dim the lights.

Example sentences

  1. Put the dining pendants on a dimmer so the clients can lower them for dinner parties.

  2. The LEDs flicker because they aren't compatible with the dimmer.

Common collocations

  • dimmer switch
  • on a dimmer
  • dimmable LED
  • dimmer compatibility
  • ambient lightingThe general, even light that fills a room and lets people move around safely, usually from ceiling lights, downlights or daylight.
  • colour temperatureA measure of how warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish) white light looks, given in kelvins (K): about 2700 K is warm white and 5000 K or more looks like daylight.
  • pendant lightA light that hangs down from the ceiling on a cable, chain or rod, often used above dining tables, kitchen islands and in stairwells.
  • lighting planA drawing that shows where every light, switch and lighting circuit goes in a space, often with a key listing the types of fittings.

More terms: Lighting

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