Does using a dimmer switch affect the cost of electricity?

ALL of the bulbs in my house are flourecent bulbs. A 65 watt bulb is reduced to approximately 12-14 watts. You can burn a flourescent bulb 5X longer for the same price. Now I don't mind if a light is left on 'cause I know it is not going to kill me when my electric bill comes. And for 2007 I had 2 bills that were just over $50... all the others were under $50/month. Of course the two months were July/August and in Florida you can expect higher bills in the summer. FYI, you CANNOT dim these bulbs.

i think it depend on the wattages used on the light..if one specific light was designed for a dimmer outcome but using same wattages as the ordinary then it will not save the electricity cost...you must inquire/ aware on the wattages consumption before buying one...the lesser wattage output the lesser the cost...

I have to be honest I always thought that it saved electricity but I am not sure I thought it did because if the Lights are dim they should not use as much electricity Now I am not sure and I don't know

wow, i dont have any knowledge about it, im just using a normal flourecent bulb, then close them when i dont need a light thats the way how i save electricity anyway:)

sounds about right even tho ya dont think it does help save you will still be using the sam wattage I have changed most of my bulb to those funny looking ones think they say they are neon and one that does about a 100 watts only uses 26 watts to run and I have seen a drop in my electric bill from them but it goes up when I have to use the heat or air lol now we need some kind of heat and air saving device!

I was looking around for that answer..think your electrician is right...that it's just an ambience effect..it will make the bulb last longer though the dimmer you have it--so in other words...only by having the light completely off will you save on electricity--though I did got a bit conflicting info...the first suggests that you only save on the bulb's "life" while the second source says yes, you do save electricity therefore money...guess time will tell on that new electric bill..right? (First source) HOW DO DIMMERS SAVE ENERGY ? When the light is off, no energy is being used. The longer the triac is off, the lower the light output, and the greater the energy savings. Lutron Dimmers Pay for Themselves: Dimming the lights Saves electricity Makes incandescent bulbs last longer 10% 10% 2 times longer 25% 20% 4 times longer 50% 40% 20 times longer 75% 60% 20 times longer Here's the link http://www.lutron.com/product_technical/FAQ.asp#OLE_LINK2 (second source) Energy-Saving Idea #3: Dim the lights. Dimmer switches are a wonderful convenience people have long enjoyed. They conserve electricity—up to 50 percent off the lighting portion of your electricity bill—and they extend the life of your bulbs up to 20 times. Dimmers can be used with existing incandescent bulbs. http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:vC63ZyNB2LsJ:www.napsnet.com/pdf_archive/109/49581.pdf+do+dimmers+save+on+electricity&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Thank you for posting this discussion! I too, have wondered on many occassions if my use of a dimmer switch in two of our rooms was saving anything on our electric bill! It seems that a difinitive answer is escaping us! When I read the responses of those before me it seems that the jury is still out on this one! I will follow this discussion to see if anything difinitive turns up! Thanks again!

I did some research for you and found this Do dimmers on lighting fixtures reduce wattage and save money? -- Eldon McElhiney, Feb. 2003 Yes, they do. But compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs save even more money. A 25-watt CF bulb puts out as much light as a 100-watt regular bulb. If you used a dimmer on a 100-watt bulb to take it down to 25 watts, there wouldn't be much light. Most CF's can't be used with dimmer switches. If your fixture is controlled by a dimmer, then either read the package on the CF bulb to find one that works with a dimmer switch, or replace your dimmer switch with a regular switch. Note that old dimmers were rheostats which did NOT save electricity -- and they generated dangerous heat, to boot. I don't have any idea when they switched from rheostats to the modern solid state variety, but here's how you can see if yours is old or new: Turn off any device that could automatically turn itself on (like your AC and refrigerator). Turn on your light at full brightness. Look at your electric meter and write down how long it takes to make one revolution. Turn the dimmer down to about 25% brightness. Check your meter again. If it took longer for the meter to spin, then you have a modern dimmer which is saving energy. If the meter speed remained the same, then you have an old-style dimmer and turning it down doesn't save energy. In that case, replace your dimmer with a modern one. You can have an electrician do this for about $40 if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. By the way, even though modern dimmer switches save energy when you dim the lights, the lights dim more than the energy is decreased. That means if you make it half as bright, you don't save quite half as much energy. But this is really trivia, and you don't need to worry about it. If I turn my dimmer to the lowest setting/level (where there's no visible light) is it the same as turning it off? Is the switch turned off in both cases and hence not using any electricity? I find it easier just to turn down the dimmer but am not sure if it's still using electricity when at its lowest level. -- Anita Low, Dec 2003 As long as your dimmer isn't an ancient rheostat (see below) then turning it down so far that you can't see any light is the same as turning it off -- no energy use. (Well, there might be some energy use, but it will be so tiny as to be negligible. If you want to find out for sure you can turn off and unplug everything in your home except the dimmer and see if your electric meter is still moving. But I wouldn't worry about it.)

Think your electrician is right. Dimmers are just for when you don't want the room bright is all.

CFLs are simply miniature versions of full-sized fluorescents. They screw into standard lamp sockets, and give off light that looks just like the common incandescent bulbs - not like the fluorescent lighting we associate with factories and schools.And you can save up to 20% on your electric bill.

no a dimmer does not effect the cost of electric. as lond as you have the light on it is using electric. it doesnt matter if its bright or dim just on or off.

It depends on what type of dimmer you have. If you have a rheostat dimmer, the type were there is a series resitor, then you don't really save anything because you are actually just transferring the power dissipation from your lamp to your dimmer switch. But if you have the solid state dimmers, which use semiconductor switch (triac), they can save you depending on the brightness of your setting. The way they turn your lamp on and off at a very fast rate so as to modulate the brightness they emit. As such, power dissipation is not merely transferred, but eliminated altogether, except probably for the very minimal leakage current inherent in solid state devices. http Here is a nice site that explains it: http://www.lutron.com/product_technical/FAQ.asp

In truth, the lower the dimmer is set, the MORE current is being pulled. Therefore, the lower the dimmer switch, the MORE electricity you are wasting. Small price to pay for ambiance! Just buy a smaller wattage lamp (bulb)

check this website to see more about our products (dimmers, relays, sensors etc.) which helps to conserve enery. http://www.smart-hdl.com

Hi polachicago I use to have a dimmer switch in my dinning room. And I loved it. Like you said its a great ambience. We dont live in that house anymore and I do miss that ambience. I think your electrician is right it doesnt save on money. But I think its well worth it.LOL

I don't know, but I would have thought the lower the light, the less power required. To me that's logic.

I'm not sure about dimmer. We have lamps that we can switch to dimmer and dimmest, still we pay the same amount every month. the best way to save electricity is to buy energy saving bulb. you can see the sign on the package when you go out and buy them.

Hmm I never really thought about the dimmer in terms of saving electricity. I do have dimmers and I use them mostly for ambience. THe light is still on, even dimmed so I wouldn't think it would save in electricity.SO I"m guessing your electrician is right :) On the other hand I also use energy saving light bulbs, going by what I read about them, they do help since they spend less electricity.

P.S. You can't use a dimmer on a florescent bulb!!!

Your electrician is mostly right. In spite of all the tripe someone C&Ped into their response, dimmers do not really save you much money and actually shorten the life of the bulbs. A dimmed bulb draws a little less energy, but not in direct relation to the lower brightness. so...Dim your lights and enjoy the ambiance! The way to really reduce energy use and save money is to switch to the new curly-Q florescent bulbs. Without even changing your other lighting habits, switching all your bulbs will cut the lighting portion of your electric bill by 70-80% depending on the bulbs you use.