dimmer switch to much watts?

[k11ngc]

Hi Guys go easy on me I'm a newbie
Please help me
2 gang dimmer switch is what my sparky has in stalled, max 400w but another sparky that just happened to come bye, as work was in progress, said I have 8x50w on one and 6x50w on another and that was reaching the limit and was likely to get hot and wasn't in he's mind safe, especially in the box it was crammed into (I think 35mm). And since we have noticed the switch getting very hot, Have mentioned to the sparky and he said he ask the supplier and they said it's ok
Who is right here? Is there an 800w 2 gang dimmer switch?
What sort of price difference we talking about? Is the sparky waiting for me to pay the extra?
I wouldn't mind that if that’s what it takes,
k11ngc

[lawrenso]

Hi K11ngc,

I believe the rating is for what each dimmer can take - however, with tolerances for the bulbs more than likely being well out I would say you are pushing it and if the plate is getting hot really confirms it.

Perhaps you could try the following

1. Drop the wattage down on the bulbs (will reduce the elecy bill as well) - Down to 40 will save 80W and bring down power through the switch.

2. I was going to suggest a relay switch but then you won't be able to dim the lights
So unless you can find another dimmer switch with a higher wattage - and some way of increasing the volume of the back box - go with 1 above

Steve

[silver12]

You can buy custom dimmers, but for a 2 gang 800W you'll pay about £80+VAT for white plastic.

[LCR_Dave]

2 gang 400w dimmer ( 2 x 400w) are about 35 ish to buy, if you have mains voltage halogen lights (gu10) you tend to have to run them on a higher rated dimmer for example, 8 x 50w gu10 lights is 400w but you shouldn't put them on a 400w dimmer more like a 500w dimmer unless is specifically says no need to de-rate on the dimmer switch
if its low voltage then this rule doesn't apply and 400w can go on a 400w dimmer, the reason its getting hot is probably because the box is crammed but to be honest a bigger box will have little effect, i wouldn't worry about it not being safe it will blow the dimmer way before it gets hot enough to be a fire risk,
and it would have to get very hot to do that, they normally have some sort of thermal cut out anyway,

[gardinerbhoy]

hi mate im a sparky myself so heres my 2 cents.

if you run a dimmer at its full rating then it will get hot and if the switch is metallic you will notice it, i always tend to up the size of my dimmers because they last longer that way, if your dimmer is running hot it will burn out sooner rather than later.

my suggestions would be as follows -

either -

1/ increase size of dimmers - the price difference between a 400w and a 600w is not much difference.

2/ if you cant change it at the moment simply run the dimmer slightly dimmed to decrease the power going through it (dont have the lights up full)

3/ if your down light fittings permit this is my top recommendation - inverst in some low energy gu10 compact fluorescent lamps they come in 11w or 9w and the 11w is equivalent light to a standard 50w gu10.

* lower energy - less power - less money - save the planet and your bills
* GU10 light bulbs are terrible for popping where as the low energy ones last a lot longer from my personal experience

Now here are the down points -

* expensive outlay, they are about £10 a pop for the dimmable ones
* DONT BE TEMPTED TO BUY CHEAP - always buy megaman branded bulbs - any others are very unreliable
*they will not fit in all downlight fittings - they are about an inch and a half longer than a gu10 standard so if your downlights are not spring loaded then they wont fit. ALTHOUGH - i have heard they are making them into the same size as a standard gu10 now but i havent seen any thus far.

Hope this was usefull. thanks.

link - http://www.lightonenergy.co.uk/Produ...e=MM-GU10-11WD