Light dimmer switches are now common in most modern homes. Lighting affects the mood and comfort level of any given room. A bright halogen lamp just doesn’t help you wind down after a long day’s work, and a candle doesn’t work when you’re trying to make dinner. Dimmers can solve this problem.

If you use your dimmer often, however, you may notice it getting hot. Understandably, this can be disconcerting to a homeowner. If a dimmer gets too hot, it can actually melt the plastic plate or degrade  the electronic components.

Reasons for a Warm Dimmer

Basically, modern dimmers use a triac—a semiconductor—which works like a transistor. This allows the dimmer to control the amount of electricity going to your lights. This also means, however, that there will be a buildup of heat, which needs to be dissipated. A metal mounting plate is generally where the heat is distributed and then dissipated through the switch plate cover..

If your dimmer is running a single 100-watt bulb, you probably won’t notice any excess heat. However, if the wattage being controlled is in excess of  300 watts or more, you may start having issues. It’s not dangerous to run wattage that high (or higher), but you need to be using a system that is rated for that wattage, which is often not the case.

Dimmer ratings apply if the dimmer is mounted in a single gang box – meaning it is mounted alone.  If a dimmer is mounted in a box with other switches or dimmers, some of the heat fins must be removed resulting in a de- rating of its current carrying capability.

What You Can Do

First, you want to see if your dimmer switch is rated high enough for the amount of lighting it is running. You could also try using lower-wattage bulbs to reduce the overall amount of heat going through the switch.

In some cases, the actual casing and/or trim plate could be the culprit. Today, most electrical boxes are plastic, but metal is a much better conductor of heat. Changing from a plastic to a metal box will help, as well as replacing a plastic trim plate with a slightly larger metal one.

Dimmer Switch Help in Denver

A bad circuit breaker is a major inconvenience, but there can be other issues at play when your power supply isn’t working the way it should. Breakers protect you and your home from current overloads and other electrical issues. If the circuit gets overloaded, the breaker will trip, cutting power to eliminate the risk of fire. Sometimes a breaker will trip even when there is no overload, but it can be tricky to figure out which situation applies.

If you think you have a bad circuit breaker, look out for the following signs so you can get the problem taken care of quickly.

If your breaker is tripping, it could mean there is a device on the circuit causing an overload. Identifying what circuit the breaker is protecting can help you figure out if the problem is with a device or with the breaker itself. There might be a label on the breaker panel that gives you this information, but if not, you can figure it out by testing your lights and devices. If you disconnect the devices connected to the circuit and try to reset the breaker again, the outcome will confirm whether you have a faulty breaker. If it still trips even without the devices connected to it, it is defective and needs replacement.