Lights dimmer / switch plan for the van?

[RobOfYork]

I'm thinking about adding 6 overhead puck lights to my van build. I am thinking about wiring them as follows.

In the bed area I will add two puck lights. Both will be wired to a single dimmer. But each light will also be wired through a switch so I can cut either light on or off but control the brightness from a single dimmer.

I'll do the same with 4 puck lights in the other area of the van. Four switches and 1 dimmer.

Has anyone done something similar? If so, do you like the flexibility that the switch dimmer combo gives?

 

[MrNoodly]

I have three puck lights wired into the house system. One is over the side door and illuminates the "empty" space. It has an on-off switch. The second one is over my small counter space. It also has an on-off switch. The third is over the head of the bed and has a dimmer because sometimes I use it full blast to read but I most often need just enough light to fumble around in the van. Since that light can be too bright sometimes, and because I think it looks cool, I glued a sink strainer over it to cut some of the glare.

<a href="https://imgbb.com/"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/2N1FGgh/grille.jpg" alt="grille" border="0" /></a>

In my opinion, the throw on the small dimmer switch I use is short enough that it's as quick and easy as an on-off switch. So in your case I'd just use dimmers and forget the on-off switch. 

However, there was a type of dimmer I used in my house that had a knob for adjusting the brightness, but you could push the knob to turn the light on and off. It would be too bulky for a van (and probably too much resistance for a 12V system) but maybe there's a version out there somewhere that's suitable for a 12V system.

 

[RobOfYork]

In my opinion, the throw on the small dimmer switch I use is short enough that it's as quick and easy as an on-off switch. So in your case I'd just use dimmers and forget the on-off switch. 

The idea I had was to be able to turn each light off and on individually but dim them as a group. I looked at having dimmers on each light but that got expensive quick.

 

[MrNoodly]

How about something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/HAMRVL-Stepl...1623195551&sprefix=12v+dimmer,aps,591&sr=8-16

 

[Sofisintown]

I don't have a dimmer, but I have 4 twin lights, that light up on one or both sides.
The switch is on the light itself.
Daisy chained all of them and straight to the fuse box.
Easier to install this way, without a mile of wire going back and forth.
If they are all lit it's like a carnival in there.