Dimmer Gets 'Hot'

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480sparky

480sparky

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Iowegia
Recently wrapped up a basement finish for a customer. During planning, I asked about dimmers and they said no. But once I got near the end, they decided to have them installed. One switch had 740 watts of lighting on it, so I installed a 1000W dimmer.

Now HO is saying the dimmer gets too hot to touch. I went over the other day while the trim carpenter was there with my IR thermometer. Highest temperature I could get was 118?F, and that was after the lights had been on for about 5 hours.

HO says he can't touch it without burning, but I'm thinking it gets that warm in many parts of the country and no one gets burned at that temp. They're also worried about starting a fire, although I commented that there's nothing there that will combust at that low of a temp. (If 118 can cause a fire, everyone in Arizona & New Mexico had better watch out!)

My question is.. is 118 too high? Not that I'd mind making sure the cust. is happy by going back and cutting in a 2000W dimmer, but I'd just like some other opinions on it.
 
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I spoke with Lutron just a couple of weeks ago about this exact issue.
They told me that 135 degrees was completely acceptable.
Now try to convince the customer of that.
Call customer service and get it straight from them.
 
I had a customer question the heat from their dimmer ....6x65w....it was warm but that's the trade off for dimming.
 
Funny part was he said he was getting burned from it. I held my finger on there for over a minute with no discomfort. Warm? Yes. Burning? Far from it.

I think it's just a case of crying "Wolf!", but if he wants a 2000W dimmer, I'll be happy to oblige.
 
480sparky said:
Funny part was he said he was getting burned from it. I held my finger on there for over a minute with no discomfort. Warm? Yes. Burning? Far from it.

I think it's just a case of crying "Wolf!", but if he wants a 2000W dimmer, I'll be happy to oblige.
Click to expand...

Remember you are an electrician and I bet your hands are calloused. I can hold pots from the oven that my wife can't get near without a pot holder.

I am not sure a 2000 watt dimmer will make a difference. Wouldn't it still have to dissipate the same amount of heat????
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Remember you are an electrician and I bet your hands are calloused. I can hold pots from the oven that my wife can't get near without a pot holder.

I am not sure a 2000 watt dimmer will make a difference. Wouldn't it still have to dissipate the same amount of heat????
Click to expand...

Na, my hands are as soft as a baby's butt! :D I actually used the back of my fingers instead of the 'working' side.

Yes, there will be the same amount of heat, but a 2000W dimmer will utilize a 2-gang box, and have the ?"-deep heat sink fins between the cover and the wall surface.

dimmercooper.jpg
 
What brand / style dimmer are you using? Usually just the plate screws get hot so I change them out to nylon, but you could also change the wattage of the lamps,especially if they are just going to dim them anyways....
 
stickboy1375 said:
What brand / style dimmer are you using? Usually just the plate screws get hot so I change them out to nylon, but you could also change the wattage of the lamps,especially if they are just going to dim them anyways....
Click to expand...

P&S. Covers are P&S as well. Lowering the wattage isn't acceptacle to the HO. They want them bright for entertaining (shooting pool, pouring booze, etc.), then lower when watching the big screen.

Edit to add: There are 10 BR65s in 6" and three 30w 4" cans.
 
480sparky said:
Na, my hands are as soft as a baby's butt! :D I actually used the back of my fingers instead of the 'working' side.
Click to expand...

I bet if you try using your butt you may agree with the homeowner. :grin:
 
480sparky said:
P&S. Covers are P&S as well. Lowering the wattage isn't acceptacle to the HO. They want them bright for entertaining (shooting pool, pouring booze, etc.), then lower when watching the big screen.
Click to expand...


This is why I never listen to a client when they tell me they won't ever want dimmers, they always want dimmers, but they are definitely being a PITA to you about the heat...
 
480sparky said:
P&S. Covers are P&S as well. Lowering the wattage isn't acceptacle to the HO. They want them bright for entertaining (shooting pool, pouring booze, etc.), then lower when watching the big screen.

Edit to add: There are 10 BR65s in 6" and three 30w 4" cans.
Click to expand...


Try a Lutron 1000 watt Ariadni dimmer. Looks like a single pole switch but it has a small glide on one side. I am sure it will still get hot but maybe not as bad.
ariadni.jpg
 
Actually, this is the smaller of the problems.

No one knew they wanted to make one room into an exercise room. So now there's a treadmill that requires a dedicated circuit. Now that's gonna be fun to do in a finished basement!
 
480sparky said:
Actually, this is the smaller of the problems.

No one knew they wanted to make one room into an exercise room. So now there's a treadmill that requires a dedicated circuit. Now that's gonna be fun to do in a finished basement!
Click to expand...


Why does the treadmill require a separate circuit? 240 volt?
 
The Lutron dimmers state in the paper work they will become warm during operation. I got so tried of explaining this that I used to take a highlighter to that sentance and point it out to the HO.
 
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