I'm down state! Out on the island actually.upstatemike said:What part of the country are you in? Reason I ask is I am doing just the opposite. I am installing almost all relay switches and only put dimmers on lights controlled by motion sensors or in a few places where I need the dimming effect like the dining room.Mike said:Considering that most switches I have will be dimmers, it's a natural progression for me. If I had a large number of relays and power was not an issue, I'd be more inclined to use Icon relays inside. However it is really only for outside lights that I am using relays for, so there are only a handful of them.
Our local utility just got approval to raise electricity rates by 265% so almost all of my lights are, or soon will be, CFL or fluorescent and most of my new switches are relay types. Tungsten and Halogen lights, even when dimmed, are just too expensive to run anymore!
I'm a big fan of the GE Reveal light bulbs (I recommend trying one if you haven't seen them). I do however have most of the lights dimmed down as the preset setting, which I like the effect of.
Electricity rates are a bit annoying, especially the 'surcharge' that has been added recently. Hasn't driven me to flourescent's.