Can A Dimmer Switch Require Special Wiring?

 

Can A Dimmer Switch Require Special Wiring?

Is There A Wiring Difference Between Dimmer and Regular Switch?

Most dimmer switches have 2 wires going to them, as do regular switches. Just turn off the power to the circuit at the panel, and make the two wire replacement. Be sure to get your connections tight and well insulated, wire-nuts work well for that. Good luck.

Generally, yes. Make sure there is room in the box and remember that fluorescent lights can not be dimmed. Or you can skip rewiring altogether and get dimmable led bulbs that can be controlled through an app.

A dimmer switch normally has two wires connected to the actual switch mechanism. One is the live mains feed, and the other carries the live power from the switch to the light fitting. There might also be a ground/earth connection to the box that the switch is mounted in. This ground lead will normally be connected to an ongoing ground connection to the light fitting.

The steps are as follows:

At the house’s main distribution panel turn off the power. Either on the specific circuit to the switch and light or if there is any doubt, turn off all power. Place a label or tape over the switch to warn others not to touch it.

Remove the screws holding the dimmer switch to the wall box.

Carefully ease the switch away from the wall so you do not damage the wires behind it.

There will normally be two wires connected to the actual switch. Slacken off the screws holding the wires and lift the switch away.

Depending on the type of regular switch, there may be two or three terminals. On a two-terminal switch, the two wires will connect to the two terminals.

On a three-terminal switch, one terminal will be labeled common. If there is a common terminal connect one of the wires to this terminal and the other wire to just one of the other two. One of those other two terminals will make the switch come on when up, while the other will make the switch come on when down. Try and get the insulation as close to the terminal as possible without it getting insulation trapped by the terminal retaining screw.

Carefully ease the switch back into the wall box. Normally this should not require much force. If it does it might mean some of the wire is trapped between the switch body and the back of the wall box.

Replace the fixing screws and turn the power on again. Check the switch is working properly.

If the switch is working upside down, it is normally simply a case of removing the screws and rotating through 180 degrees. Before doing this, turn off the power at the main distribution panel.

What Gauge Wire Is Recommended For Dimmers?

14 gauge wire will carry 20 amps. (But see NEC, the National Electrical Code). A 100-watt- equivalent LED light consumes about 13 watts or about 0.11 amps. So, that's about 180 such lamps.

There is no way of answering your question as written. Are they LED, incandescent, or fluorescent? Are all of the lights going to be on at the same time like in a commercial setting, or are they going to be used and switched independently like in a house? Are they long strip lights that have multiple bulbs in them, or recessed cans that have one bulb? Is the circuit that they are on 120 volts or 277? Is the circuit in North America or somewhere else in the world? You are missing a lot of information for me to be able to answer your question. But assuming that you are talking about 60-watt incandescent bulbs in a commercial setting in the US with 120 volts, you can put 32 on a 20 amp circuit.

Voltage is not a matter of gauge, it is the insulation that set the voltage limit, the gauge sets the current limit, and how many amps the wire can handle. As an example, I once wound a transformer that had to handle 25kv for a tube amplifier, it only had to handle a few milliamps and I wound it with 32 gauge wire, and had to special order the wire to get the insulation right.

Yes. you can use a 14 gauge cable, but only if the circuit is protected by a 15A breaker.

If the breaker is 20A, you will need a 12 gauge cable.