[Danny Barrett]

Do I replace the dimmer switch if it goes hot to the touch on its wall plate?

I recently installed 3 x 300 watt light bulbs along with 3 light bulb socket extenders each.

I knew that the existing recessed in-ceiling housings only support 60 watt bulbs each so I bought 3 socket extenders each housing so it will seat the 300 watt bulb farther outward to avoid over heating the housing and its wires.

I decided to also disable the other two recessed lights which were 60 watts and 40 watts. The wall plate for the dimmer switch still grew hot.

I tracked the electricial wire from the switch to the breaker panel and identified the breaker as 15 AMPS.

So if my calculations are correct, if I used all 5 bulbs at 300, 300, 300, 60, 40 I would get 1000 Watts on a 120 V which would mean it needed an 8.33 AMPS throughput ? (my electrician-speak is bad as I clearly am a beginner)

While I was turning off and on the power on that specific 15 AMP panel switch, I noticed the switch housing alone itself could wiggle some up and down because it was on top of all the other 15 AMP switches and there was a space above that loose one.

My question now is: Do I fix at the dimmer switch end or do I fix on the panel end? I do not think it is the electric cable between the panel and the switch as it was still cool to the touch. Right now I am thinking maybe I should get rid of that dimmer switch and buy a heavy duty plain light switch instead? I do not know how old that dimmer switch is but I know this condo was built in 1973 and I am assuming it is the same switch since then.

Thank you for any assistance that comes my way :)

Danny

[ballengerb1]

Not all dimmers are the same, you need to find out how this one is rated. Most dimmers do get warm but not actually HOT to the tough where you could not hold your finger on the switch indefinitely.

[stanfortyman]

It's probably only a 600 watt dimmer, so you are going to burn it out in short order. In the mean time it is going to get VERY hot.

You need a 1000W dimmer, or better yet a 1500W since you are so close to the limit of the dimmer's capacity.

[Danny Barrett]

At Home Depot they did not carry any rotary dimmer switch for 1000 or 1500 watts. So I ended up buying a plain single pole traditional switch as a worker said that those things can handle high wattage demands.

I checked online and the 1500 watt commercial grade rotary dimmer will go for $50 or more. And I would have to surrender the entire gang-box in the wall to accommodate the 1500 watt rotary dimmer. This would mean I will disable the neighboring switch for one of the electricial outlets and then configure that outlet to have power.

Did you want to recommend a store or online store for a good priced 1500 watt rotary dimmer (less than $50) ? And also did you want to offer other ideas and solutions?

Thank you :)

[ballengerb1]

You can do this app with a 1000 watt dimmer Lurton Dalia 1000-Watt Single-Pole Preset Dimmer, White-DL-10PL-WH at The Home Depot much cheaper. The bulbs you are using are not longer manufacyured in the USA, you can even find 120 watt in any stores. This might be a good time for you to consider CFL or LED but their price will knock your socks off too.

[stanfortyman]

Danny, I'm sorry to inform you, but $50 is very cheap for a 1500 watt dimmer.

I also hope that the lights you are using the 300 watters in are thermally protected. I'd be very wary of over lamping such a light.