Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

Hello, thanks for any help you can provide. Here is the situation.

I bought a house with two circuits of canned ceiling lighting in the
kitchen - one set of four incandescent lights over the sink and one
set of four over the island. The set over the sink had a dimmer, the
other one did not. Both switches are in a hole cut in the granite next
to the sink. The hold is three inches wide and standard switch height.
Recently the dimmer switch blew. I took off the face plate and they
had two small crappy switches in there. I want to replace them both
with new 600w dimmer switches. But all I have is 3 inches wide to deal
with in the granite, about an inch less than what is needed for two
dimmer switches.
What are my options here? Is it possible to wire all 8 lights on one
dimmer? But then I have extra space. Please give me your thoughts, I
can provide more details if you need them.

Thanks!

Brian

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, thanks for any help you can provide. Here is the situation.

I bought a house with two circuits of canned ceiling lighting in the
kitchen - one set of four incandescent lights over the sink and one
set of four over the island. The set over the sink had a dimmer, the
other one did not. Both switches are in a hole cut in the granite next
to the sink. The hold is three inches wide and standard switch height.
Recently the dimmer switch blew. I took off the face plate and they
had two small crappy switches in there. I want to replace them both
with new 600w dimmer switches. But all I have is 3 inches wide to deal
with in the granite, about an inch less than what is needed for two
dimmer switches.
What are my options here? Is it possible to wire all 8 lights on one
dimmer? But then I have extra space. Please give me your thoughts, I
can provide more details if you need them.

Thanks!

Brian


What is the total wattage of the bulbs involved? If higher than the capacity
of one dimmer, you might want to try smaller bulbs, see if it's enough
light, and go from there.

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

On 21 Feb 2007 08:26:48 -0800, wrote:

Hello, thanks for any help you can provide. Here is the situation.

I bought a house with two circuits of canned ceiling lighting in the
kitchen - one set of four incandescent lights over the sink and one
set of four over the island. The set over the sink had a dimmer, the
other one did not. Both switches are in a hole cut in the granite next
to the sink. The hold is three inches wide and standard switch height.
Recently the dimmer switch blew. I took off the face plate and they
had two small crappy switches in there. I want to replace them both
with new 600w dimmer switches. But all I have is 3 inches wide to deal
with in the granite, about an inch less than what is needed for two
dimmer switches.
What are my options here? Is it possible to wire all 8 lights on one
dimmer? But then I have extra space.

You can always use more receptacles.

Please give me your thoughts, I
can provide more details if you need them.

Thanks!

Brian

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

A double switch box,or 2 gang box, should be wide enough for two devices,
regardless of type, including two "standard"dimmers. Sometimes when granite
or similar materials are cut, they don't quite cut enough to match the box
opening. When this happens you won't have the room for wide devices, such as
dimmers, which is probably why you have one dimmer and one narrow switch.
You could have the opening widened, or possibly use a high wattage dimmer to
control both banks of lights and just install a dummy switch next to it



wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, thanks for any help you can provide. Here is the situation.

I bought a house with two circuits of canned ceiling lighting in the
kitchen - one set of four incandescent lights over the sink and one
set of four over the island. The set over the sink had a dimmer, the
other one did not. Both switches are in a hole cut in the granite next
to the sink. The hold is three inches wide and standard switch height.
Recently the dimmer switch blew. I took off the face plate and they
had two small crappy switches in there. I want to replace them both
with new 600w dimmer switches. But all I have is 3 inches wide to deal
with in the granite, about an inch less than what is needed for two
dimmer switches.
What are my options here? Is it possible to wire all 8 lights on one
dimmer? But then I have extra space. Please give me your thoughts, I
can provide more details if you need them.

Thanks!

Brian

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

You can get 1000W dimmer switches. One of those may fit your needs.

Question about wiring 2 light circuits with dimmers in small space
 

1500W switches are available too:

http://www.levitonproducts.com/catal..._MNI15-1LW.htm