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andrea_malzone

How many dimmer switches I can have in the same spot

3 years ago

Hello all. We are redoing the whole electricity of our house. We have no architect and I ended up creating the light plan myself. The idea was that everything (or almost) would be on a dimmer. But now the whole wiring is done, walls are close and we have just two gangs available. Does that mean I can just have 2 dimmers?

Just as an example, on the dinning room I have 2 sets of wall lights, a ceiling light and a ceiling fan. I would like to dimmer all the 3 lights and have an on-off for the fan….

I cannot find any product that would work. The ones that I thought could work are actually for incandescent bulbs.

Any advise would be really appreciated!

Comments (10)

  • 3 years ago

    Sounds like you need to have a meeting with your electrician. Your post isn't very clear, but the main problem is not how much space there is in the switch box in the wall, but what things have been wired to the same circuit! It sounds like your electrical plan may not have stated clearly what things you wanted to control separately. If the wiring allows for multiple switches, it shouldn't be that hard to change out the switch box for a larger one and just chisel out the wall a little.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I found some dual dimmer switches online for the lights (not sure about led), but I would consider using the two gangs for the lights, and replacing the ceiling fan with one that uses a remote. The remote can usually be mounted on the wall anywhere as it does not need to be wired. The fan is always on/wired, and the remote controls the fan on/off/speed/direction and fan light on/off/dim. I have a WAC fan that has all these controls and even has an option for a smartphone app. Not too expensive.

    Some fans may have a remote that can be put in the electrical box, or some other type of wall mount unit. If the fan control can fit in one gang, and you can find a dual led dimmer switches to go into the other gang, then both could fit into the 2 gang box as long as you have enough space for all the connections so that it could be done to code.

    I think it’s a good idea to keep fan controls separate so that it’s easier if/when you decide to change a fan. All the newer tech fans have different ways of operating.

  • 3 years ago

    Do you already have the fan? I have/had the reverse problem: when I had my house build 5 years ago, I wasn't ready to select and install the fans, but I had the necessary switches installed for the fans in three rooms, with two circuits for the fan/light combination. I later bought a desirable (to me) fan for the MBR, but there was no way to run to power lines into the fan (it came with a remote). So, I use just one circuit along with the remote, and have an extra wall switch. I rarely use the remote, just the power switch to turn on or off that fan/light.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    I need a lot more info but there are dimmers for LED lighting no problem We have our ceiling fan hooked into Alexa for both light and fan speed mayebe check out that. I use dimmer rarely for most lighting I like them in bedrooms never in a kitchen .I use under cabinet lighting in kitchens on a separate switch that can be lit with all the rest turned off . for when you are not working in there. I see no purpose for dimmers in LRs either have all the lights on or choose to have only certain ones on . I use Alexa for bedroom lighting night table lights and an over head .So mayebe explain the need for so many dimmers .So many LEDs can run off one circuit too.

  • 3 years ago

    I like to have everything on dimmers and disagree that they’re of no use in a kitchen. The only things not on rheostats in our house are fans and floor heating - ceiling fans have wall switches, exhaust fans have temp/humidity sensors (temp is for the network closet), and the heater mat is on a thermostat/timer

  • 3 years ago

    I don't understand the problem. Is it A or B?

    A: you can't find good dimmers to work with LED? then keep looking. There are dimmers that are LED compatible. My suggestion would be to get smart switches that are hard wired, so you can also control them with an app, set up timers, etc. (Certain LED bulbs are not compatible with dimmers, so you do need to be sure your LEDs are dimmable.)

    B: or is the problem that too many lights are on one switch? Then all you need to do is get a system-- like Hue-- where each bulb can be dimmed individually (or together in groups). You can set it up and control it with an app, and program wireless switches for them too.

  • 3 years ago

    Hey SeattleMCM the issue is B. Thanks I will take a look on Hue.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    It's kind of pricey, but I LOVE it. If you look for bulbs that are just "white" (instead of being the full rainbow of colors), they cost less. The light quality is amazing. One thing I love is that I can have different "scenes". I have preset scenes for daytime, nighttime "bright", nighttime "medium", "movie mode", etc. For daytime, they're daylight balanced, and warmer for the night modes. I'm super color sensitive so I love this!

    You can also get smart plugs for this system. I use them for things like christmas lights or lamps that don't have hue bulbs.

  • 3 years ago

    Try current technology, i.e., wireless

  • 3 years ago

    Not sure how things are wired--it might still be possible to split some sets of lights from each other. If so, check out the Lutron Maestro switches. They fit two dimmer switches into one gang. And they have a fan switch that splits fan control and light w/ dimmer switch in one gang.

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