Will dimming lights using a dimmer switch really conserve energy?

Question

This is an ongoing debate I have with my husband; just wish to know once and for all if less electricity is utilized when the lights are dimmed using a dimmer switch.

Answer 1

Most dimmer switches work in such a way as to save electricity when dimmed. They use a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) to clip off part of the AC wave form, which is kind of like turning the power off for a fraction of a second 60 times a second. That has to save power. But it is possible to dim a light with a series resistor, which does not save electricity. The resistor just wastes some of the power in the resistor to dim the light. But I am about 99.99% sure than all dimmer switches are SCRs and not resistors. A resistor dimmer would be really big and heavy and get hot from the power it was wasting when dimming.

Answer 2

Incandescent light bulbs work by simply heating the filament to thousands of degrees (about 6000 actually) until it glows a bright white. This is very wasteful since most of the energy used is turned to heat and not light. An SCR dimmer switch will save on your light bill but a better way is to switch to fluorescents. These can't be dimmed because a fluorescent bulb is either on or off but they use a tiny fraction of the energy of an incandescent. There has been some work done dimming fluorescents by pulsing the power going to them but as far as energy saving goes this would be silly because you're already way ahead.

Answer 3

The best thing to do to save electricity is to switch to compact florescent bulbs. Unfortunately, you aren't supposed to put regular cfb's on a dimmer because of the warning on the label. Maybe now they make special cfb that can be on a dimmer, but I'm not sure.

Using a dimmer on regular incandescent bulbs does save electricity.

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The electric cost savings basically parallels the amount that you dim the lights. If you dim by 10 percent, you save 10 percent. Dim the light 25 percent and you save roughly 20 percent on your electric bill. But light bulb life increases dramatically. Dim your lights 10 percent and your bulbs last twice as long! Dim your lights 25 percent and they last four times longer. This makes a big difference if you happen to use expensive bulbs, or if they are in hard to reach locations such as a two story entrance hall or a huge vaulted ceiling in a family room.

Answer 4

Yes. Dimmer light uses less energy, and therefore less electricity (Electrical Power) is used.

Answer 5

great theory. we have not have been given any highway lighting fixtures right here and if highway lighting fixtures have been became off on the city there would be much less choose for city based thieves to return out right here and thieve issues, which might scale back our coverage rates. Low ability severe performance bulbs and proper installations with reflectors etc are a greater useful answer.

Answer 6

yes Watts = Volts x Amps less watts less V&A

candles use none