i am in the process of refubishing our bedroom we have decided we would like the main room light switched from just inside the door and either side of the bed;
would this be wired as three way lighting? i.e. two 2 way switches and one intermediate, if so are intermediate switches available as dimmers? would it be possible to wire all three switches as dimmers Thanks in advance
andy
Yes.
I didn't find any when I wanted to do this.
It cannot be done with simple dimmers. ISTR I did find a very expensive commercial system that would do the dimming centrally, from a number of separate control points. However, in the end, I put a dimmer for the central light by the door and switches on each side of the bed. I also put a wall-mounted reading lamp each side of the bed, each dimmed from a switch below it, and turned on or off by switches by the door and on the other side of the bed.
Colin Bignell
No - but most push on push off dimmers have a two way switch. But you can only use one in the circuit. If looks are important, you can buy matching push on push off switches for the other two way, but not IIRC as an intermediate.
Only with a very expensive specialised system.
On 30 Jan 2005 19:28:17 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@tesco.net strung together this:
Yes.
No.
Not using standard dimmers no. You could use X10 or something similar to control remote dimmers but you'd be looking at laying out a reasonable amount of money.
I think Stefek Mentioned some PLC type system a while back, IIRC, that wasn't absurdly expensive. Can't remember which one it was though.
An alternative would be to install a B&Q infra-red remote control dimmer in the main light switch position & fork out for 2 remote controls (or pass one between you).
Phil.
snipped-for-privacy@tesco.net wrote:
either
dimmers?
Hmm.
Ok, AIUI, you can wire dimmers in parallel safely, you just get the brightest setting.
We have a problem - conventional three way lighting turns lights either on or off when any switch is activated. Add seperate dimmers at each switch. and then things become less defined.
Live | | ------- |o o| | / | A |o o| ------- | | | | ------- |o o| | / | B |o o| ------- | | | | ------- |o o| | / | C |o o| ------- | | | R |-------------Dimmer A----| |-------------Dimmer B----+----Light---- Neutral |-------------Dimmer C----| Q
Is one way of doing it. This lets you turn on and off the light to the brightness of the maximum brightness set.
I can't think of a simple way (other than replacing the light with a non-fan heater of 2-3 times its rating, and connecting the light between point Q and neutral, of doing it to minimum brightness.
What would be really handy for this would be a dimmer switch that took a third wire, and when it went dead, reset to minimum brightness.
Hmm. Thinking on this... If dimmer A and B were moved to R, and were on the bed, this might work.
either
yup
no.
But there is a better option anyway, that is to use a fitting that takes 2 bulbs, and provide each switching piont with 2 switches instead of one. Now you have 3 way switching and 3 brightness levels that can be controlled from every switch point. And no loss of efficiency and failure point, both of which you get with dimmers. And when one bulb blows, no inconvenience.
NT
Changing the bulb is inconvenient.
These master/slave dimmers aren't *horribly* expensive ...
At a tenner a throw for the masters, seven notes for the slaves, and the option of using just about any IR remote (or your trusty Palm Pilot ;-) as an extra control - not 'horribly' pricey at all, and I suspect an order of magnitude cheaper than the Strand, Zero88, and other pro-installation dimmers I suspect Dave had in mind ;-)
You're right. As A TLC junkie I'm mortified I hadn't seen these. ;-)
I've used them - they are very good and do exactly what they say on the tin. They work with the TLC lv transformers and lv lights as well.
I've got them both sides of the bed and at the door controlling the room (3-way) and over bed lights and a separate setup at the dressing table and door controlling the dressing table and wardrobe lights (2-way)..
The only drawback is that the plastic covers on the back of some of the fittings is a little loose so I added a drop of glue so that the covers didn't come off when I put them in. It was fiddly putting multiple wires into one set by the bed head (as I couldn't run one side of the bed back to the junction box). I used deep metal boxes to allow for the extra wiring.
The masters run slightly warm even when the lights are off - at some time I'll dismantle the system to see what the current drawn is when it is off.
Any questions and I'll try to answer them.
Simon
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