How many lights can be on one dimmer switch?

I have a conference room that the tenant wants to be able to dim. There are 3 pendent lights with 3 bulbs each and 6 recessed light fixtures. Can a standard dimmer switch handle these 15 bulbs or is it too many? Also was thinking of using the new dimmable cfl's. Do these bulbs require a special type of dimmer switch?

Dimmers are rated in watts, as long as the total lights wattage is at or below the rating of the dimmer, everything should be fine.
As far as cfl goes, some work with standard dimmers, some need special dimmers, and some say they do but not every nicely. You may find cfl won't dim low enough for what you need. Imho, incandescent are best for dimming.

Are they normal incan bulbs ?

Estimate the bulbs at 60w each and you get 900watts. You might be able to find a dimmer that big, but they are often only like 150-300watts.
So, no, a normal dimmer won't run 15 incans. You'll have to find a heavy duty model.

The selling point of a dimmable CFL is that it does not require a special dimmer.

If you want an energy efficient bulb that dims well, you may want to consider the new LED bulbs.

I would also consider consulting a professional on this matter.

Welcome to the forum! :welcome:

Skip the CFL bulbs and get yourself some dimmer capable LED bulbs. Home D sells the CREE LED bulbs in cool, neutral and warm. They are much better than the CFL's.

Some LED bulbs will work ok, others get very flickery when dimmed, some actually start strobing. I've found that LED also don't dim as far down as incandescent.

For my LED lighting/dimming, I stick to a dedicated system for LEDs, not LED with incan dimmer on a 120v ac line.
There are dimmers available in excess of 2000 watts specifically for large hall lighting.
Unless you want to just swap out current lighting and install LED specific lighting, don't overcomplicate things. Just install the proper dimmer(s) for the system you have.

RI Chevy said:

Home D sells the CREE LED bulbs in cool, neutral and warm

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They only sell "soft white" (2700K) and "daylight" (5000K).

Look a little better!

I would stay away from CREE. I purchased 12 from Home depo and returned in less than a mth. Didnt like them. I was able to find a dimmer for LEDs only. Worked great.

HARDEW said:

I have a conference room that the tenant wants to be able to dim. There are 3 pendent lights with 3 bulbs each and 6 recessed light fixtures. Can a standard dimmer switch handle these 15 bulbs or is it too many? Also was thinking of using the new dimmable cfl's. Do these bulbs require a special type of dimmer switch?

Click to expand...

Why did you join the forum and ask a question, and then never log back in to check it?

You can get up to 1000 watt incandescent dimmers that fit in a single gang box. The cover plate is a finned heat sink.
Do not use them for PAR type high wattage lamps though. The surge when the filament vaporizes at end of life will burn out almost any wall dimmer.
The actual CFL or LED wattage rating of multi-purpose dimmers will be much lower than the incan wattage rating.

I imagine that the switch would get pretty warm.