As a trusted residential electrician in the Jackson, Tennessee area, Delta Electrical Inc. has helped hundreds of customers improve the quality of their electrical systems. Sometimes this means checking up on a circuit breaker that’s making a funny noise, while other times it means helping upgrade a home to modern light fixtures.
We always want our customers to know all their options when it comes to residential lighting, so they can make the best decision for energy efficiency, safety, comfort, and resale value. In recent years, many of our customers have become interested in using dimmer switches in various areas of their home. So we decided to take a closer look at the benefits of using this alternative to typical on and off switches.
How Do Dimmer Switches Work?
In most homes, lights are controlled by single pole light switches. These switches only have two settings. When in the ‘on’ position, the circuit is completed and allowed to flow to the light. When in the ‘off’ position, the circuit is broken and not allowed to flow to the light.
Dimmer switches, on the other hand, allow you to change the amount of current flowing into the light in tiny increments so on and off are no longer your only options.
Benefits Of Using A Dimmer Switch
So why would you ask a residential technician to install dimmer switches throughout your home instead of the traditional pole light switches? Here are just a few of the surprising benefits.
1. Saves Energy
Lights don’t always need to be burning at their maximum brightness. Perhaps you’re watching a television show and just wanted to make sure you don’t bump your leg on the coffee table while heading to the kitchen for snacks. The ability to reduce current flow to the light allows you to reduce the amount of energy it uses as well. The more often you opt for something lower than 100 percent means more money in your pocket.
2. Increases Control
Candles provide beautiful mood lighting but who wants to go through all the trouble of lighting them? Maybe you’ve got a young child who’s afraid of the dark and doesn’t want you to turn the lights all the way out at night. Dimmer switches allow you to adjust your lighting to your mood, with just the touch of a simple lever.
3. Extends The Life Of Light Bulbs
When your lights aren’t constantly burning at full capacity, it actually helps them to last longer. “If you dim the lights by at least 25 percent, you will save approximately 1/5 of the electricity required. The softer the lamp fade, the longer the lamp lasts. You can give 3 or 4 years to a lamp that will usually last 5 or 6 months,” explains DoItYourself.com.
4. Compatible With LEDs
There was a time that only incandescent light bulbs and some halogens could be connected to a dimmer switch, but this is no longer the case. Both compact fluorescents and LEDs are now compatible with dimmer switches, increasing your energy savings and lighting options by even more!
Contact a Trusted Residential Electrician Today
At Delta Electrical, our goal is to make your home a more pleasant place to live. After all, our homes are the places that we retreat to at the end of a long day, so it just makes sense that we would seek to create a relaxing environment, doesn’t it?
There are a number of reasons to make the switch (pardon the pun) to dimmer switches and we believe that they make for a nice change of pace in pretty much any type of home.
Interested in upgrading to dimmer switches? Contact the expert residential electricians at Delta Electrical today! We would absolutely love to lend a helping hand.