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Do dimmers produce dirty electricity even when the lights are turned all the way up?

Laura Honig 5 years ago updated by anonymous 5 years ago 4

I am having a new light put in, so if the electrician puts in a dimmer switch, but I never dim the lights, will I still have excess dirty electricity?  Should I ask him to eliminate the dimmer switch completely? Thank-you.

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Hello,

Generally we recommend to eliminate the dimmer switch completely. The dirty electricity will dramatically increase if you use the switch. You have to measure in any case to prevent the electrical pollution any time you make a change in your electrical. Thank you!

Answered

That is true - dimmers always create dirty electricity - and quite a lot of it.  There is no such thing as a clean dimmer switch.  Some people still use them, and use the filters alongside the dimmer.  If you have an outlet that is on the same circuit and is very close to the dimmer switch - this helps.  Personally, I do not use dimmer switches.

Is any kind of switch that changes the brightness of a light considered a dimmer/bad? My parents have a light switch (very old) that has a halfway-on position, and the ceiling fixture goes from off, to on, to brighter on. I imagine the lightbulbs in that fixture are old incandescents, but don't know if they're 2-way bulbs.