Automatic Light Dimmer On A Timer

[Alex Brown]

I have succsesfully built an automatic timer which slowly turns my lights on over a 2 hour period from dark (off). Then, in the evening they turn off over 2 hours for the night. I am running two blue t5's and 2 daylight t5's and will be soon running a DIY LED strip to add the shimmer effect back onto my reef.

This unit in theory will work with any existing lighting, as long as it has a UK, USA or Euro plug socket on the end of your lights (the AC socket). I havnt tried it with MH, LED or T8 - but it should work just the same.

I was wondering if anyone else has done this, and if anyone might be interested in purchasing such a unit? I am able to make them in bulk, for a price in the region of £50-£70. My unit will dim up to 700w of lighting per dimmer.

Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

Hey Alex, I really hate to burst your bubble, but most flourescent and/or halide ballasts are not designed to be dimmable. Oh you CAN dim them, but doing so will often slowly harm components and shorten their life span. There are dimmable ballasts out there to be sure, but the common ones are not. LED's however can be dimmed easily