Dimmer noise

When I bought my house, it had nothing but dimmer switches. I changed them all.

In my experience this was a major problem with dimmers some years ago. New dimmers do not exhibit the problem. Try a new dimmer, and don't buy the cheapest one you can find.

Virtually all dimmers are build around SCRs and Triacs and what they do, in effect, is turn the switch on and off really, really fast. Since conventional incandescent lights have a filament that doesn't respond that fast, the filament sort of averages the actual power its getting.

But, some other lights, like flourescents and halogens, don't like being switched on and off like that. I had a set of LV halogens on a dimmer in my dining room that made a huge racket when the dimmer was used. I replaced that dimmer with one meant to control halogens, and its been fine.

But, be aware that switching things on and off like that really fast really messes with the AC in your house. Most audiofools won't have a dimmer in the same circuit (even the same house) as a decent stereo. While newer dimmers may control noise coming from the switch somewhat, just be aware they are still (unless things have undergone some radical redesign I wasn't aware of) going to create ugly noise on your AC lines. You will hear that on your stereo.

Besides, dimmers don't work well with compact flourescents. You have changed to cheaper, more eco-friendly CFLs, right?

Try to avoid dimmers - nasty noise generators - also avoid energy saving lamps and fluorecents...

DV

Edesilva...When I said that the new dimmers which I have bought are quiet I meant with respect to buzz on audio equipment. They must have done something to avoid noise getting on to the power lines.

Halogens are just a different kind of incandescent and there is no noise problem. The problem with using a dimmer with them is that they don't get really hot, which is what a halogen must do to burn off deposits that dim their light.

Some compact flourescents can be used with regular dimmers. However, they won't start with reduced voltage, so you need to turn the brightness up for a second when you turn them down. Once they are lit they dim just fine.

The eco-friendly bit really bugs me. They talk about the energy that is "wasted" making heat. But in my part of the country we need heat most of the year, at least at night when lights are on. If the light bulbs don't make heat my oil burner needs to run longer. They are only eco-friendly when your air conditioner is running.