|On 1452909369, fcwilt said...
The OP mentioned a concern about heat - a fairly common problem. The solution in this case does not demand or require a contactor.
If a contactor had been used the OP wouldn't have made this post in the first place. If heat is a common problem for you when handling lighting loads then you need to learn how to design your systems better. If the line voltage wiring is accesible, then a contactor would have been his cheapest and most reliable solution. But it's not so I recommended the Ra2 dual voltage switch.
Every dimmer, fixture, etc I've encountered has specs as to max load under various conditions. In a residential setting the homeowner can often create a situation where the load exceeds the spec. Haveks the changed the code to require a home to be protected from the homeowner? Should we replace every dimmer/switch with some sort of circuit breaker matched to the load?
That's basic electrical design. You design the system to handle the loads. If you don't like to pay to roll trucks on service calls, you look forward and try to anticipate potential problems and implement solutions to remediate it.
I, for one, did not like service calls at IBEW wages.
If you want to install contactors that's fine but don't try to claim that it is the one and only "correct" solution.
And who mentioned a 4000 watt load?
It's the "one and only" cheapest solution.
Your solution for the OP's problem is to spend $250 on bulbs. Mine was a $30 contactor (if the wiring is accessible) or a DV. Both of which are cheaper than yours.
The 4000 watt load was a rhetorical question. In your 40 years you have never been tasked with switching a massive load (or just a big load that exceded the capacity of the system devices available to you)?
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To the OP
22 candelabra bulbs. They are probably 40watt e-12 base bulbs I've never seen higher than a 60watt e-12. So it's either 880 watts or 1320 watts. I can assume that they are not 60 watt bulbs. Max the 8ans can handle 600 watts ganged. 1200 watts would shut the switch down. If they are 40 watts, the DV can handle the load if it's placed at the end of the gang box.
If the drive drive lights are on a dedicated circuit/breaker you could remove the switch, wire nut the wires to bypass the switch and install a blank and then move the switch down by the electrical panel and use a contactor.
Last edited by Fiasco on January 16, 2016 03:16.
