LED interior courtesy lighting and dimming

[RogerC 136]

So I had added some LED courtesy lighting on my custom instrument panel when I made it and the RH dash panel I'm currently working on. I was testing the lighting with a 9V battery this past weekend and was thinking it would be nice to be able to dim them to a comfortable level & eliminate them creating any glare. What would I need and how would I go about adding a dimmer feature for each circuit? I like the footwell lighting on my 11 mustang and want a combination of illumination of the lower dash & footwell area. 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

I'm not sure this will help, but may give you some ideas:

 

[RogerC 136]

Interesting. Haven't been to their site but wondering if this would shorten the life of the LEDs by cycling the light constantly? I had in my head something like a rheostat that would reduce the voltage going to the light. I would assume each light has a threshold voltage (min) to illuminate, whatever that is.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

1 hour ago, RogerC said:

Interesting. Haven't been to their site but wondering if this would shorten the life of the LEDs by cycling the light constantly? I had in my head something like a rheostat that would reduce the voltage going to the light. I would assume each light has a threshold voltage (min) to illuminate, whatever that is.

No, it won't shorten the life, since there is little heat at the semiconductior junction- nothing like an incandescent bulb. Pulsing LEDs is the best way to get them to dim the most.

Yes you are correct that LEDs have a minimum forward voltage to allow current to flow across the junction. Its usually around 1.2v for red, and 3.6v for blue. FYI, We didn't have white until they figured out how to do blue.