dimmer switches: Overloaded Dimmer Switches = Fire Hazard - 05/22/12 02:56 AM
Have you ever brushed your hand up against a dimmer switch and noticed that some of them get extremely hot?  I've done this many times while inspecting houses, and whenever I do, I look in to the reason for the heat.  Occasionally I find an overloaded dimmer switch that creates a fire hazard.
To figure out if a dimmer switch is overloaded, you can add up the wattage of the lights that are being controlled, and compare that to the rating on the dimmer switch.  The majority of dimmer switches are rated for 600 watts - this rating can be found … (27 comments)