Is that a normal feature of a dimmer switch (it’s operating 6 recessed lights)
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Yuppp... it's the loss of energy (the dimmer isn't 100% efficient) being expressed as heat.
PaulB
I am about to change my dimmers out for regular on-off switches. Yep like the other post they heat up.
WHy are you swapping, because they get warm?
Nah.. I am old and see no need to dim the lights.
Mine not only get warm they get hot. I don't like it.
Edited 3/15/2008 1:32 pm ET by larryscabnuts
That is one reason they have the wider tabs on some, more of a heat sink. If putting into a two or more gang box with other devices you have to adjust sometimes.
Warm is fine.
If it's getting hot, try swapping it out for a dimmer that's rated for a higher wattage. You can find them in 600w or 1000w. Don't trim the mounting plate down without realizing that that is the heat sink, and that you'll wind up turning a 600w switch into (say) a 400w one by removing some of the plate.
Whats your wattage on the bulbs? If you're running 6 100 watt bulbs with a 600 watt dimmer (standard) you may need to upgrade to a 1000w dimmer.
I believe your not supposed to have more than 60 or 80% of rated wattage going through the switch.
Edited 3/15/2008 2:56 pm ET by MSA1
I am surprised that no one suggested that you switch to CFL bulbs. (They are available for fixtures controlled by dimmers.) Before we switched, we had 8 ceiling lights on one dimmer, each rated at 75 watts and the switch got **hot! After we switched to CFLs, we had 8 bulbs, each rated at 17 watts, and the switch stays cool. As a bonus, the new bulbs were brighter than the old ones; I noticed this when we had put in four new bulbs and compared them to the old ones.
I think you intended this post to go to someone else.
Glad I got it though, I wasnt aware they made CFL's that were compatible with dimmers.