Lights with a fan are a quick way to cool and brighten the room simultaneously. But what if you want control over the brightness or the speed at which the fan moves? Some may wonder if a dimmer switch, one that adjusts light brightness, can, therefore, adequately control both fan and light. This sounds both exciting and easy.
1. What is a Dimmer Switch & How Does it Work for Ceiling Fan?
Dimmer switches help you to adjust the lighting and fan movement by controlling electricity.
This is a handy gadget, It can tone the light down to create a soft atmosphere or turn it all the way up if additional lighting is needed.
Here's how it works: A dimmer switch not only switches a light on and off like a regular, everyday switch, but it turns the circuit on and off literally thousands of times a second. This on-off action reduces the amount of electrical current that ultimately gets fed to the bulb and, therefore, dims the output from the light. The farther you push down on the dimmer, the less overall power is supplied to the bulb, and the dimmer it glows.
The benefits of having dimmer switches installed include the following.
Atmosphere At Your Fingertips
Twist the dimmer switch, and you'll change how people feel in a room. Want to have a fantastic movie night? Drop the lights a touch to a glow. Need to work or read? Brighten them up perfectly.
Conserve Energy
Dimming switches saves energy since the use of less light reduces electricity.
Longevity of Bulbs
Since the power usage of bulbs is minimal, you will save the amount used for replacing bulbs that burn out quite often.
However, Smart fan remarked that dimmers are made to be used in light fixtures only. The lights that get fixed to ceiling fans operate with motors, and the power input that they receive has to be in a steady flow.
2. Does a Fan Dimmer Switch Save Electricity?
In light fixtures, a dimmer switch saves electricity because it controls the light's brightness level, which in turn saves energy. When you turn off the lights a few notches in brilliance, you are using less power. The more you notch down, the more energy you save. This is most especially true with the energy-saving features of LED bulbs. Any 181 Electrician in St Cloud would have to tell you that by just dimming your lights, you already get to save considerably off your power bill. More savings await with LEDs because they are already much more energy-efficient compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs.
That's not so, however, with ceiling fans. After all, if it is a motor, and not a light bulb, natural characteristics would dictate a condition of steady voltage for a motor. Running off a dimmer switch causes a host of problems: slow running, overheating, and damage to the motor. This will not save you electricity; it could cost you more in fixes or fans.
Factors Influencing Electricity Savings with Dimmer Switches
A number of factors will affect the amount of real electricity that will be saved while using a dimmer switch. They are as follows:
Type of bulb
The LED light bulbs are still more power-effective than incandescent or halogen light bulbs. This, in essence, implies that in the application of one single LED bulb to a more considerable number of dimmer switches, then one will save more electricity units since the LED already uses fewer units having to be at full brightness.
Light usage patterns
That way, the more that you dim your lights, the more energy that you will be able to save. For instance, dimming few hours per day definitely will cause significant impact on your power bill
Fixture A Right One
Make sure that the dimmer switch is directly appropriate for your lamps. A bulb and a switch that is not correctly matched will simply flicker and buzz; an indication of wasted energy.
3. What are the Disadvantages of a Dimmer Switch?
Owing to the numerous preference that a dimmer switch gets, some of the cons associated with the switches are;
Incompatibility
All bulbs will not work in harmony with dimmer switches. Some older incandescent bulbs, and even some CFL bulbs, may flicker or even hum when dimmed. Some of the LED bulbs are not in a way that they are compatible with dimmers hence it is a good rule of thumb to check the package for compatibility before proceeding to install the switch.
High Cost
Overall, this strategy is more costly compared to using normal switches. You would also need special bulbs that can be dimmed, adding even more to the initial investment.
Electrical Interference
The dimmer switches do introduce some level of electrical interference that may affect other appliances at your place. This rarely applies, but it becomes the case if the dimmer installation is not properly done.
Performance Issues
It means that the bulbs burn out much quicker when they are dimmed low. Though this applies mostly to incandescent bulbs. You also can discover that some of the lights do not dim universally and rather than gradual dimming, have snapping changes to the brightly.
4. What Happens if You Put a Dimmer Switch on a Ceiling Fan?
You may be curious if you should put a dimmer on the fan or not. So the answer is No. And here's why.
Typically, the ceiling fans are motor-operated, and the motors require a continuous, uninterrupted flow of electricity to work properly. A dimmer switch, by its basic design, reduces the flow of electricity passing to the light fixture. This might be OK for light bulbs, but it is very detrimental to electric motors. Following are some things that occur when you dim the ceiling light using a ceiling fan. A fan spinning slow or not at all:
It causes the fan to slow down or it may even stop the speed of the fan completely if not enough power is supplied to it. This can be really irritating and works the purpose for which the fan is installed.
Examples of Dimmer Switch Problems with Ceiling Fans
Let's consider some examples of what can happen if you are using a dimmer switch to control a ceiling fan:
Overheating and Damage
You lower your ceiling fan while it is on. The fan motor works much more strainedly because it is receiving less electricity. After a while, the motor overheats and is internally damaged. At last, it comes to a halt, and you will be left with no choice but to replace the fan.
Fire Hazard
Worst of all, the overheated motor might ignite the electrical wiring within the fan and thus create a fire hazard. This could potentially damage your house and even affect your personal safety.
The fan stops working properly
You install a dimmer switch and assume it's going to work for both the light and the fan. Instead, if you turn the switch down, the blades of the fan will start to turn slow and then eventually come to a complete stop. Now, you have wasted an inoperational fan and probably a motor too.