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| IKEA’s Trådfri Driver (above) will be replaced with a new Dubbelkisel Driver |
If you’ve ever installed under-cabinet lighting only to realize you still have to reach for a physical switch, IKEA might have exactly what you’ve been waiting for.
The Swedish flat-pack giant is quietly developing a new smart home product called the Dubbelkisel Driver. Spotted in the official Thread Group’s certified product database, this unassuming little box is shaping up to be a significant upgrade to IKEA’s aging Trådfri Driver — and it arrives at a moment when the smart home industry is finally getting serious about interoperability.
For anyone who has pieced together IKEA’s smart lighting ecosystem over the past few years, the name Trådfri will sound familiar. It means “wireless” in Swedish, and it launched IKEA’s first serious foray into connected lighting. But the Dubbelkisel — which translates loosely to “double silicon” or, more poetically, “double flint” — isn’t just a rebrand. It’s a quiet signal that IKEA is betting big on Matter and Thread, two technologies designed to make smart home devices talk to each other without requiring a separate bridge for every brand.
What Exactly Is the Dubbelkisel Driver?
Let’s back up. A “driver” in lighting terms is the box that converts mains electricity (120V or 240V) into the low-voltage DC power (typically 24V) that LED strips and puck lights require. The Dubbelkisel Driver is, at its core, exactly that: a power supply. But it’s also a smart device.
Once installed, the Dubbelkisel allows users to:
- Turn connected lights on and off remotely
- Dim brightness levels smoothly
- Integrate with the IKEA Home smart app
- Set timers and trigger scenes — but only when paired with an IKEA Dirigera hub
That last point is worth emphasizing. Without the Dirigera hub, the Dubbelkisel functions as a conventional LED driver with perhaps some local wireless control via IKEA’s Styrbar remote. With the hub, it becomes a fully networked smart lighting node that can respond to automations, schedules, and voice commands via Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, or Google Home.
Why Thread and Matter Matter
Here’s where the Dubbelkisel Driver separates itself from its predecessor.
The older Trådfri Driver used IKEA’s proprietary wireless protocol. It worked — mostly — but it was a walled garden. If you wanted to control it from outside IKEA’s ecosystem, you needed to jump through hoops or rely on third-party bridges like those from Philips Hue or Home Assistant.
The Dubbelkisel, by contrast, is listed in the Thread Group’s database as supporting Thread version 1.4.0 and Matter. For the uninitiated, that’s a very big deal.
Thread is a low-power, mesh-networking protocol that allows smart home devices to communicate directly with one another, even without an internet connection. Matter is the application layer — the common language that lets a Google Nest Hub control an IKEA light bulb without requiring the manufacturer’s blessing.
In plain English: the Dubbelkisel Driver should work with any Matter-compatible smart home system. You won’t be locked into IKEA’s app if you don’t want to be. Apple HomeKit users, Amazon Alexa households, and Google Home enthusiasts should all be able to add this driver to their existing setups with minimal friction — assuming their ecosystem supports Matter-over-Thread, which most modern platforms now do.
Four Versions, Two Wattages, Two Regions
IKEA isn’t taking a one-size-fits-all approach here. According to listings spotted by Matter Alpha and German smart home blog HomeKits.de, the Dubbelkisel Driver will launch in four distinct variants:
- 15W EU version
- 15W NA version (North America)
- 30W EU version
- 30W NA version
All versions are expected to operate on 24-volt DC power, which is the same voltage as the existing Trådfri Driver. That’s a subtle but important detail: it means the Dubbelkisel should be a drop-in replacement for anyone currently using IKEA’s older driver. The wiring, the LED strips, the connectors — all of it should remain compatible.
This backward compatibility is classic IKEA. They’re not forcing you to rip out your existing cabinet lighting to upgrade. They’re offering a smarter brain for a system you may already have installed.
Pricing and Release Date: The Waiting Game
As of now, IKEA has not officially announced the Dubbelkisel Driver. There’s no press release, no product page, and no availability date. But the presence of the device in the Thread Group’s certification database — a mandatory step for any Matter-over-Thread product — suggests the company is in the final stages of development.
Pricing is also unconfirmed, but we can make an educated guess. The current Trådfri Driver for wireless control retails for $45 in the US, £22 in the UK, and €25 in Europe. The Dubbelkisel adds Matter and Thread support, which typically carries a slight cost premium due to additional certification and chipset requirements. A price point in the $50–$60 range wouldn’t be surprising, though IKEA is known for aggressive pricing, so they may absorb the cost to maintain market share.
Who Is This Really For?
It’s tempting to look at the Dubbelkisel Driver and think, “It’s just a power supply. How exciting can it be?”
But this product isn’t aimed at the person building a smart home from scratch. It’s aimed at the person who already has IKEA cabinets, IKEA lighting, and maybe even an IKEA hub sitting in the living room, gathering dust because the automation options felt limited.
The Dubbelkisel is also a signal to the broader smart home community: IKEA is serious about Matter. The company has been rolling out Matter support to its Dirigera hub for months, and the Dubbelkisel is one of the first new products designed from the ground up to leverage that infrastructure.
For renters, apartment dwellers, or anyone who doesn’t want to hardwire smart switches into their walls, the Dubbelkisel offers a middle path. You get reliable, low-voltage LED lighting with full smart control, but you’re not locked into a proprietary app. If you move, the driver comes with you.
What Comes Next?
IKEA’s product pipeline often leaks in stages. First comes the regulatory filing or certification database listing. Then the retail inventory system updates. Then, finally, a quiet launch with little fanfare.
We’ve already passed the first stage. The Dubbelkisel Driver is listed, certified, and ready. The next step is a product page on IKEA.com, likely accompanied by a few compatible LED strips and perhaps a new fixture or two.
There’s also speculation — fueled by reports from Matter Alpha — that IKEA is simultaneously preparing a new lamp called the Varmblixt, which may also support Matter-over-Thread. If that’s the case, we could be looking at a coordinated rollout of several new smart lighting products in early to mid-2025.
The Bottom Line
The IKEA Dubbelkisel Driver is not a glamorous product. It won’t appear in lifestyle photoshoots. It won’t be unboxed on YouTube with dramatic music. But it represents something quietly important: a major brand choosing open standards over vendor lock-in.
For the average person, that means fewer compatibility headaches. It means buying a light driver from IKEA and controlling it from an Apple Watch. It means setting up a morning routine where the under-cabinet lights fade on at 7:00 AM, triggered not by IKEA’s servers but by a local Thread network that works even when the internet is down.
That’s the promise of Matter. And if the Dubbelkisel Driver delivers on that promise, it might just be the most boring — and most useful — smart home product IKEA has ever made.
Sources: Thread Group, Matter Alpha, HomeKits.de
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| The older IKEA’s Trådfri Driver |