How Dimmer Switches Work and the Advantages they Provide for Your Home

Dimmer switches are simple electronic devices that are used to control the brightness level of lighting. Many homeowners have dimmers installed to control lighting, save money on their electric bills or as an extended feature of their security system. Dimmer switches can easily be installed by electricians or by people who are knowledgeable about hooking up these types of devices. Keep reading to understand how dimmer switches work and how they can benefit your home environment.

What Does a Dimmer Switch Do?

Dimmer switches simply raise or lower the brightness in electric light bulbs. They are often used in homes and businesses to conserve energy and to control the lighting environment. Dimmer switches can be hooked into your smart home’s functions for controlling the ambiance in your home. You can automatically set the lights to dim at a certain time with timers or smart controls, or adjust the light level manually.

Advantages of Upgrading to Dimmer Switches.

There are several advantages to installing dimmer switches in your home.

• Energy Savings. By dimming your lights you’ll see energy savings on your power bill because you’ll be using fewer watts when your lights are dimmed. Every household will vary, but depending on how many rooms you have dimmers in and how often you dim the lights, you could see 18-20% savings on your lighting costs.
• Your lights will last longer simply because they won’t be working as hard when they are dimmed. This isn’t true of all bulbs, but you can double or triple the life of an everyday light bulb by dimming the lights.
• You can control the look and feel of any room. You’ll usually want the lights bright while cooking dinner, but the living room is a different story. You may want to dim the lights while watching TV, but turn them back up to read a book. Dining rooms, family room and bedrooms are also great places for lights with dimmers switches.

Related: Easy Ways to Improve the Lighting in Your Home

How do Dimmer Switches Work?

The key to using a dimmer switch is knowing how to get the best results out of the device, so it helps to understand how it works. Dimmer switches use simple electrical principles to function depending on their type.

Your basic dimmer switch simply reduces the amount of electricity flowing through a circuit to reduce the brightness of a light. However, modern dimmer devices work differently.

Modern dimmers take electricity that is flowing through a light’s circuit and switch it on and then off. When this happens, it diverts electricity from the light bulb. The amount of electrical current flowing through the lightbulb is reduced. Keep in mind that the on/off flow of electricity or “switching cycle” is controlled by your home’s AC current.

A dimmer switch changes the direction of electrical flow every time that it is used to dim or brighten the lights. The flow of electricity always alternates between positive and negative. When the circuit alternates it will automatically shut the circuit off or on.

Ultimately, the dimmer switch controls the electrical cycle for dimming a light. When the switch is turned down low the cycle takes longer to complete, and the light emits a lower level of brightness. When it’s turned up, it burns brighter because the on/off cycle flows more easily. The cycle also takes less time to complete.

Types of Dimmer Switches

Electricians have devised different types of dimmer switches throughout the past 100 years. Dimmer switches with on/off functions offer better control of power usage and they help to save more money, which is why these types are commonly used today.

Dimmer switches are created with 4 basic designs: integrated, touch, slide and rotary.

• Integrated dimmer switches are often controlled with wireless technology, but they can also be operated manually. These types of dimmer switches are commonly used with modern smart home and/or security systems.
• Touch screen dimmer switches are also popular. They are often installed on a wall in the home and are both handy and easy to use, plus give a modern look to a room.
• Very common, slide dimmers simply allow you to control brightness by simply sliding a switch back and forth or up and down. These dimmers can also come with a button that automatically slides the device back and forth.
• Finally, there is a rotary dimmer that can be manually turned to dim lights. Pretty straight forward, the dial itself is also the on/off switch.

A Las Vegas electrician can install dimmer switches in your home. Fowler Electric can safely set up your switches and lights so that you can start saving energy and control the mood in your home. Have a question? Shoot us an email!

If you’d like to upgrade your lights and switches, give Fowler Electric a call today. Or set up an appointment for a free estimate below.

702-778-4346

Photo by Reinaldo Kevin on Unsplash