How to Identify your Switch

Before we get into identifying your switch you must understand that, first and foremost, you can't change an intermediate switch into a dimmer.

What is an intermediate light switch? - It is a three-way light switch, used when you have three or more switches controlling one light. The middle switch will be the intermediate.

What is a dimmer light switch? - Dimmer light switches, simply put, are units connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the light.

Step 1

One way or two way?

• If you have only have one switch (a simple on/off switch) it will be a one way

• If you have two switches in the room, controlling the same light, it will be two way

• If you have more than two, e.g a large room with three entrances/exits requiring three switches, you will have a mixture of two ways and intermediates, you will only be able to change one of the two ways to become a dimmer.

• You can only have one dimmer switch on each switching circuit.

• You can buy 1 gang 1-way dimmers but these aren't usually any more cost-effective than 1g 2 ways and you can use a 1 gang 2 way as a 1 gang 1 way but you can't use a 1 gang 1 way as a 1 gang 2 way!

Step 2

Before LED’s it was much easier to identify switches but now you have to check the lowest wattage and maximum wattage you will have on the dimmer and make sure it fits. To make thing a bit more complicated you need to check if your dimmer is LED compatible.

 

LED loading, unfortunately, can’t be calculated the same way as incandescent or mains halogen light bulbs. A good rule of thumb, and one that is used by most manufacturers, is to take the maximum rating of the dimmer light switch and divide by 10 (i.e use 10% of the max. rating). E.g. A dimmer switch with a maximum rating of 400W (this translates to 40W) can run five 7.1W dimmable LED light bulbs.

 

Tools Needed:

-3.5 mm blade screwdriver recommended for switch screws

-depending on the dimming switch will depend on the type of screwdriver you need for the connection screws , generally you will need a 2.5mm or 3mm

 

Our Recommendation:

Ideally, you would turn the light on which you are going to change the dimmer switch and then you would isolate the power to this circuit by turning off the power. The reason that this isn’t the safe way of making sure electricity is off is if, for example, someone at some point ‘borrowed’ a live or neutral from this circuit, you could get a return voltage into what would have been thought to be the isolated circuit.  We always recommend using the safe isolation procedures.