Dimmers

In addition to their romantic value, dimmer switches enable you to decrease the lighting in the dining room so your kids can’t see that you’re feeding them Brussels sprouts, a side dish that no human being should ever eat anyway. Dimmer switches come in several styles including those with …

• A toggle control.
• A dial control.
• A sliding control.
• Automatic dimming.

A dimmer reduces the voltage reaching a light fixture, but in doing so, the switch builds up a small amount of heat. Because of this heat and the large size of a dimmer switch compared to other switches, it might not work as a replacement for an existing switch if you have an undersized or crowded box.