mm wrote:
Seems to me it would be "Dimmers create resistance which cause less
current to flow through aluminum wires so they don't get so hot as
they would if there were no dimmer."

What about light bulbs? Even without dimmers, light bulbs create
resistance. Do they cause aluminum wire to fail? Bulbs can get a lot
hotter than a non-malfunctioning dimmer.

Maybe I didn't understand you.


I stand corrected:
http://www.askthebuilder.com/414_Dimmer_Switch.shtml

sort of:
http://www.lutron.com/service/FAQ.asp

The older dimmers generated heat from the rheostat the newer ones
generate heat from the electronics.

Heat + aluminum wiring = bad thing
It doesn't matter if the heat is generated in the wire or in the
internal electronics of the switch it will still be trapped in the box
along with the aluminum wire. The constant expansion & contraction of
the aluminum wire is what causes the connections to fail. Also keep in
mind that the cheap builder that used the aluminum wire probably also
used cheap/small boxes that make the problem worse.