Dimmer question....

[ol55]

I have a question for you electricians out there. When you use a dimmer switch on a light, does it still use the same amount of electricity? Another words, if I have a 100 watt bulb and I dim it down, does it still use 100 watts?

 

[CraigFL]

There is no straight yes or no answer... Every dimmer I know of dissipates some power in the dimming process. So.. if it dissipates 10W and you turn the bulb power down to 90W brightness, there can be still 100W of total consumption. In fact, if the dimmer doesn't have a full on bypass circuit, it is possible to dissipate 110W for a 100W bulb. If you turn it down to 50W brightness, there will be only 60W of total consumption which is less than the 100W bulb so in this case you would save money. It would also depend on the type of bulb you are trying to dim-- incandescant, flourescent, other...

Most dimmers don't turn down the voltage but just interrupt(pulse) it so the voltage isn't there as long causing an effective power reduction.

 

[Offy]

Ah, so that's it. Now how about if the switch is 100% off during 1/3 of the day (Eastern Daylight Savings) but on for 2 hours using a florescent bulb 90 feet from the source assuming 14-3 wiring?

 

[malibu101]

Ah, so that's it. Now how about if the switch is 100% off during 1/3 of the day (Eastern Daylight Savings) but on for 2 hours using a florescent bulb 90 feet from the source assuming 14-3 wiring?

Off is off
I don't understand your question.
BTW- I fully agree with CraigFL's response.

 

[markb1]

Ah, so that's it. Now how about if the switch is 100% off during 1/3 of the day (Eastern Daylight Savings) but on for 2 hours using a florescent bulb 90 feet from the source assuming 14-3 wiring?

This depends on the location of your calculation (time zone) and if you have the light on in the PM or AM and also type of wire used ,stranded or solid, then again did you measure vertically or on the horizontal

 

[CraigFL]

This depends on the location of your calculation (time zone) and if you have the light on in the PM or AM and also type of wire used ,stranded or solid, then again did you measure vertically or on the horizontal

But you realize that when it changes back to regular time this weekend, all bets are off...

 

[Junkman]

I am wondering if it takes a dim wit to understand these answers.....

 

[george4]

Thanks ol55 and CraigFL, I have several of dimmer circuits in the house and wondered the same thing.

 

[russlaferrera]

This depends on the location of your calculation (time zone) and if you have the light on in the PM or AM and also type of wire used ,stranded or solid, then again did you measure vertically or on the horizontal

I did not think the question merited an answer. The one you provided was.... well priceless. LOL Thank You!! Russ

 

[ol55]

Thanks for your answer Craig, I was never quite sure how that worked. And thanks to Offy and markb1 for your comic input,... goofy bastards .Oh and russlaferrera, sorry to have wasted your time by making you read a question that you think doesn't merrit an answer, funny how you still found the time to give one though......

 

[SteveU]

You have to have a special dimmer to use with fluorescent lights, if you use a regular dimmer with them you get a nasty oscillation. Also, they come in different ratings 600 watt & 1000 watt, the 600 watt were like 12.00 each but the 1000 watt were 50.00+ each several years ago for the regular versions so keep the load below 600 watts per dimmer if you don't want to pay thru the nose. Fluorescent rated dimmers were more expensive I was told but I never got a price on them. As far as saving electricity, replace your regular light bulbs with screw in fluorescents, that will do more than installing dimmers and you will still have a useable amount of light.

 

[Junkman]

If I remember correctly (IIRC), you need special dimable ballasts for flourescents when you use the special dimmer.

 

[malibu101]

There are different control systems for dimming flourescent lights.
I have installed a very few Lutron Tu-Wire 5% systems. They are very simple to install in a retrofit application. I also go on alot of callbacks with this particular system. I personally would never use these
http://www.lutron.com/CMS/CMSSystem_entry.aspx?appid=1015&id=7458
I only know a little about them but there is a 0-10 volt signal dimming systems-the 1-10 volt system can't be any worse than the Tu-Wire 5%.
This is their 0-10 system http://www.lutron.com/CMS/CMSSystem_entry.aspx?appid=1015&id=7462

 

[Yotaforce]

That's funny guys. It all depends if you lift your left foot three inches off the ground and stick out your tounge to the right when operating the switch. Also, if you have animals around, keep them atleast five feet away from the light while performaing this operating technique to prevent a static charge from interupting the area of gravity exerted on the energy pulse throughout the internal wiring. If your wife just casually walks up and makes a smart remark about your activity, repeat the entire function as soon as her derogatory remarks are over and she has moved to atleat 20 feet from the switch location you are working in. Good luck and may the force be with you.

 

[Kevin54]

You have to have a special dimmer to use with fluorescent lights, if you use a regular dimmer with them you get a nasty oscillation.

No you don't. I have fluorescents in the garage with 8' lamps, a standard ballast in the lights, a standard dimmer normally used on incadescents and have no problem at all. When the fluorescents are dimmed there is no flicker and the dimmer does not get any warmer than normal.

 

[Offy]

Electrical wizzard that I am I'm going to attempt to install new batteries in my flashlight this weekend. Relax....they're only AA, I know better than mess around with the Ds.

 

[n2jeepn]

You can save about $.03 a month if you turn the shop lights out each time you blink.
Just trying to do my part to save the whales.

 

[Coach James]

Every book I have read also stated that fluorescent bulbs needed a special dimmer to work properly and that many fluorscent rated dimmers also had to be matched to the type of ballast in the fixture.

Coach

 

[russlaferrera]

Thanks for your answer Craig, I was never quite sure how that worked. And thanks to Offy and markb1 for your comic input,... goofy bastards .Oh and russlaferrera, sorry to have wasted your time by making you read a question that you think doesn't merrit an answer, funny how you still found the time to give one though......

Ol 55, I hope your shorts are not in a not. If you read my post it made reference to Offy's question. NOT YOURS! I don't mind hate mail. But I would like to deserve it. It was funny, don't ya think? Russ

 

[Danglerb]

Most dimmer circuits make noise, electrical at least, and I was building a room I wanted quiet, so I put about a 16 wall scone floods around the room and wired them on 8 different switches, and not in any sane manner but a complicated series and parallel arrangement. Electricians ran screaming from the room, but it never caught fire much.

 

[Steve in Mi]

No you don't. I have fluorescents in the garage with 8' lamps, a standard ballast in the lights, a standard dimmer normally used on incadescents and have no problem at all. When the fluorescents are dimmed there is no flicker and the dimmer does not get any warmer than normal.

Kevin I have some pretty expensive (even second hand) units for dimming fluorescent lights. These are large black boxes that will not be an easy task to tie into my present system so when you say they are not necessary - then I'm going to listen up and ask for more detail on how you acheive the same result using a standard dimmer. How many 8' tubes do you dim on a single dimmer switch? What type tubes, T-8's, T-12's or ? What is the brand and capacity of the dimmer switch you are using for the fluorescents? Do you have a mixture of fluorescents and incadescents in your circuit with the dimmer? What is the specific ballast identification on what you call a standard ballast? TIA. Steve

 

[SteveU]

No you don't. I have fluorescents in the garage with 8' lamps, a standard ballast in the lights, a standard dimmer normally used on incadescents and have no problem at all. When the fluorescents are dimmed there is no flicker and the dimmer does not get any warmer than normal.

I replaced all the incadescent bulbs in our living room with the screw in fluorescent bulbs a few years ago in an attempt to save money. I had the power to them run thru a 600w rotary dimmer from the local electrical supply. When I turned them on there was a nasty oscillation to the point that I replaced the dimmer with a regular on-off switch that night. Maybe the tube fluorescents react different but the screw in's do not like to be run thru a dimmer.

 

[mpraddict]

I believe you'll find your ballast (standard ballast) will not last as long if you put dimmers on your flourescent lights....even if you don't notice any oscillation...