Save Electricity With Dimmers!

Dimmer switch's are a great and easy way to generate ambient light, and they can instantly start saving you money on your electricity consumption and bill. A low cost dimmer switch generally runs in between $18 and $35. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING CHEAPER! And, as a rule, I only purchase name brand devices such as Lutron, Hubbell, Leviton, Legrand or Watt Stopper. I have actually seen a $10 dimmer switch installed in the wall, catch on fire. It was at a friends home, who ordered it online.... We were both fortunate enough to be there to both witness and save the event from a catastrophe. The UL listing on every device you buy should also be apparent on the packaging.
Dimmer switch's come with an awesome variety of functions, including pre-programmed functions and remote dimming. There are "green" type dimmers now from Lutron that have an indicator light that shows you when you are saving at least 15% as compared to a "full on" setting. Most all dimmer types are available in 3 way, 4 way and so on, so you can install them in hallways or larger rooms with more than one entry. Remote dimmers, and IR ( Infrared )are becoming more popular because of their mobile capability's.
A typical residential single-location 600W dimmer ranges from
$18 for standard dimmers to $65 for advanced dimmers. This investment can be easily recouped by substantial energy savings that result from using the dimmer. Here’s how:

1. Average residential dimmer load = 300 watts
2. Average energy savings while dimmer is in use = 20%
3. Average daily residential dimmer use = 3 hours
4. Total electricity savings = decrease in load (300 watts x 20%) x hours used (3
hrs/day x 365 days) = 65.7kWh / year
5. Average cost of residential electricity = $0.112 per kWh
6. Average annual cost savings = 65.7 kWh/year x $0.112/kWh= $7.36/ year, per dimmer installed.

Dimmers are generally designed to last about 10 years. With that in mind, you can potentially save $73.60 in the 10 years of use X each dimmer in your home. The more you dim, the more you save
Dimmers operated for longer periods of time, at dimming levels greater than 20%, save
even more electricity and money. For example, here’s what happens when you dim a
light by 50% for 5 hours/day:
1. Annual electricity savings = decrease in load (300 watts x 50%) x hours used (5
hs/day x 365 days) = 270kWh/yr
2. Annual cost savings = 270kWh/yr x $0.112/kWh = $30.24/ a year. In this case, a single residential dimmer saves $30.24/year. This would reduce this
payback period for an average dimmer (at $16) to less than seven months. These calculations are available on Lutron's website at www.lutron.com/CMS400/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2251799813685312

Thanks for reading! Talk next time,
Doug
Ask Doug the electrician!