Dimmer Switch Question

[zom247]

My wife likes this light:

http://www.next.co.uk/g531162s4#991221

On the site it says "Halogen lightfittings may only be dimmed using a Next halogen compatible dimmer". The only dimmer I can find on their site is a touch one at £28. Do I have to buy this one to use or will any generic one from a diy store be fine?

 

[zom247]

For low voltage halogen you need a trailing edge dimmer as opposed to the more commonly used leading edge.

Reason for this is because you're chopping the waveform on the primary side of the low voltage transformer.

It doesn't have to be NEXT specific but it does have to be trailing edge, assuming the transformer in the fitting isn't something unusual.

Thanks, I'll have a look for a trailing edge one then.