ᐅ Difference Between a Dimmer Switch and a Dimmer Push Button?

bwollowb schrieb:

I never claimed to fully understand the electrical system behind this—quite the opposite! That’s why I’m asking questions and trying to familiarize myself with the topic bit by bit. Answers drenched in sarcasm don’t help me; you might as well save yourself the effort and spare me the time of reading them.

You called me a “Nackerpatzl” (probably an Austrianism; we Germans have our gaps there), but because of your further comment

bwollowb schrieb:

Note: I’m not concerned about the electrical wiring itself but actually only about the appearance of the switch/button!

I decided to skip a basic electrical engineering mini-course. I must have missed the sarcasm. So, back to the basics then?

bwollowb schrieb:

Is it only the rotary dimmers that buzz?

Dimmers can be simply described as flow control valves for the electrical current going to the light fixtures. If they have a rotary control, they usually use rotary potentiometers that tend to oscillate quite a bit in the low-frequency range of dimming. Such dimmers are a single dimmer with a rotary control. Step dimmers, in contrast, don’t operate via a single circuit but have as many as there are steps, and therefore generally work cleaner, without jitter. If you’re skilled at achieving fine gradations with a rotary controller, you can count yourself among an elite few. The advantage of rotary controls is that they physically stay in the last position. The switch itself “remembers” the setting. A rotary potentiometer can also be controlled remotely using push buttons.

bwollowb schrieb:

(Maybe I should add that I’m not talking about KNX control or something similar, if that matters?) [...] I wasn’t aiming at Alexa, RFID, mind control, or whatever else.

With a step dimmer, it’s best to leave “remembering” the last setting to a PLC (programmable logic controller), and of course you should use push buttons both for on/off commands and for momentary commands like plus/minus or standby/wake-up. For the PLC, these buttons basically act as input detectors for user commands, and the system can learn to distinguish between users. When operated by user Gisela, they behave like simple switches, while the more tech-savvy users, Horst and Daniel, are also distinguished by the duration of button presses. The PLC can have profiles “Gisela / Horst / Daniel” saved, and deliver each their preferred program. Which bus system you prefer and whether it is proprietary is of secondary importance.

bwollowb schrieb:

The question arises (as with many planning issues) from practical considerations: “I walk down the hallway and do this or that…” In this case, my thought is: “I’m coming from room A to room B carrying a heavy shopping basket and want to switch on the light with my elbow. Better a rotary dimmer or a push-button dimmer?”

The best solution is a PLC with push-button controls and proximity sensors for the RFID chip on your keychain. That way, you don’t even have to worry about rubbing lotion on your elbow’s skin. If your hands are free and you want to operate it manually, you can tap the switch (long press = toggle, short press = momentary). The system always distinguishes between you and your wife (Wife Acceptance), invited guests (Guest Acceptance), and intruders (Guest Rejection with calm alert).

For example, when my friend Daniel Düsentrieb visits his parents and carries his keychain, the house recognizes him and adjusts the lighting to his preferences. If he leaves his keychain in the car and has to ring the doorbell, the “light switches” default to his mother Gisela’s mode. Father Horst gets the path lit for his after-work beer. Although I am younger than Horst, I am more technology conservative and, as a welcomed but non-owning RFID guest user, use Gisela’s mode. Whether a layperson or a tech enthusiast, the house treats everyone equally with care.

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Well, now you’ve learned what a (technical) Nackerpatzl is, and I’ve also learned quite a bit more about dimmers 😉 A sincere thank you!

I have to admit, I’ve never actually had a push-button dimmer in my hands to test it. Not in any hotel, among my friends, at work, etc. Hence my uncertainty when choosing one. It’s only slightly better with rotary dimmers.

Should I also admit that SPS (PLC) is a foreign word to me?! But it’s just not my world, sorry! I don’t want programming features like adjusting lights automatically based on the time of day, or switches adapting via RFID to users, or anything like that. Lights on, lights off. Dimmer up, dimmer down. No KNX, smart home systems, etc. The honest reason? I simply don’t want to deal with it. And besides, it costs me too much. Don’t get me wrong—I truly admire people who know how to make their homes “smart”!

Considering everything mentioned above, please allow me to ask the following questions: If we assume a “dumb” push-button dimmer (no PLC, KNX, smart home system, or the like behind it):
- If I dim it to, for example, 80% and then turn it off with a click, then turn it back on with a click—does it return to 80% or full 100%? Or does this depend on the manufacturer? (I assume, since there is no intelligence, it goes to 100%?)
- How long does dimming from minimum to maximum usually take? There must be some middle ground between “quickly turning up/down” and “fine tuning.”

bwollowb schrieb:

The honest reason? I simply don’t want to deal with it. And besides, it costs me too much. Don’t get me wrong, I really admire people who know how to make their homes "smart"!

In a free country, you can wait until your grandchildren start finding you spooky. Having the technology doesn’t force you to use it consciously. Daniel’s mother uses these control elements in the retro style of the old switches “like back when Helmut was still called Schmidt.” But when she talks to Daniel on the phone and says the light is getting too dim, Daniel (who lives two hours away) brightens the light for her without her needing to get up. Gisela (68) grew up a well-behaved Catholic girl of the old school from the countryside and has nothing to do with technical devilry. She doesn’t have to, because the technology has fully internalized the Wife Acceptance Factor in a gentlemanly way and lets her use the house like in the old days. Even with jagged metal apartment keys!

bwollowb schrieb:

I have to admit, I have never had a push-dimmer "in my hand" to test it. Not in any hotel, not among my friends, at work, etc. [...] If we consider a "dumb" push-dimmer (no PLC, KNX, smart home or similar behind it):
- For example, I dim it to 80% and then switch it off with a click. -> If I turn it back on with a click, is it at 80% or full 100%? Or does it depend on the manufacturer? (I assume that without intelligence it is set to 100%)

Whether you have never encountered such things or just never noticed them (of course, there are also hotels with a Gisela mode) we won’t clarify here. You will definitely find dimmer switches operated by rotary knobs or push buttons in specialist stores, current ones too, not just vintage. As far as I know, dimmers with rotary knobs usually have a classic rocker switch around them (on=on, off=off), and the position of the dimmer knob retains the set brightness because the device is operated manually. For push dimmers without rotary knobs, I can imagine they reset to 100% or, using dip switches, can be preset to, for example, 60% or 80%, and maybe Gira has a different philosophy than Berker here. A good specialist retailer should be able to advise you on which products suit your needs.

bwollowb schrieb:

How long does it take to dim from minimum to maximum approximately? There has to be a middle ground between "quickly dimming up/down" and "fine adjustment."

It feels almost instant because the switch senses whether you tap it or hold it down. The lamp gives you feedback in real time. Gisela dims at the "light switch," and the dimmer "stops immediately" when she releases it. When Daniel visits her, he dims with his smartphone (delay about 350 ms), but when Daniel is at home two hours away, he has to expect possibly more than 800 ms delay when dimming Gisela’s light. Copper cables have incredible signal travel times across continents, but at home between switch and bulb, of course not. The dimmer itself is a very simple circuit, so you can fully disregard any "processing time." To simulate the smoothness of a rotary knob, you probably need a 64-step dimmer. In the economy price range, four or eight steps are probably more common, but I have no knowledge about that. With Daniel, his parents, and our customers, the simplest control switches are installed, and the "intelligence" is fully handled by the PLC (programmable logic controller). That’s just a different approach and roughly costs the same as installing sophisticated switches everywhere.

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Thank you very much for the answers!