Led Christmas Lights

[picker]

Why cant I use a dimmer to turn the tree lightsdown.

[IJKLM]

Because they don't draw enough current.

That's good, because they don't consume much energy.

Not sure of the total wattage of your string of bulbs, but a 100W filament bulb draws around 4A RMS.

The equivalent LED is around 10W (max), drawing less than half an amp.

Conventional dimmer switches that chop up the current can't work on such small currents.

You'll need a dimmer switch that can work with very low currents - sp[ecifically for LED systems.

[IJKLM]

Oops - a 100W bulb draws 0.4A RMS.
the 10W LED string is just 40mA (ish)

[EDDIE51]

(Light Emitting Diode) 'LED' lights have just 2 settings , ON or OFF . There is no 'in between' so dimming is not possible. To be able to dim them you need conventional bulbs with an 'element'. (A thin internal wire that heats up to give the light) .

[bhg481]

Eddie - only true of some LEDs. Some can be dimmed, some state specifically that they can't.

[tonyav]

https://www.downlights.co.uk/led-dimmer-switch.html

[douglas9401]

Filament, Eddie.

[Old_Geezer]

https://www.electronicproducts.com/Optoelectronics/LEDs/LED_101_How_do_dimmable_LEDs_work.aspx

One either has to control current, which can mess with colour, or, because LEDs tend to be either off or on, flicker them too fast to notice, and reduce the on to off ratio. Hardly worth the hassle for tree lights. (But wouldn't surprise me were there was a control gadget out there somewhere.)