A dimmer switch allows you to control the light levels in a room and therefore affect the mood of the room. The added benefit is that it also allows you to save money. Electrical Marketplace offers a variety of dimmers to suit your particular application. The standard dimmar capacity is around 600 watts, so bear this in mind when shopping for a light system. The front part of a dimmer is typically all metal - this is called a heat sink. It normally does not need to be grounded. By definition it is supposed to “sink” or pull the heat out of the dimmer and dissipate it into the air. For high wattages, look for dimmers with large metal pieces mounted on their front-these do the same, but can dissipate a lot more heat. A dimmer switch normally has two wires, but some have a ground wire in addition. One will be the wire to the feeder-the other, the wire to the load. Follow these instructions to safely install a dimmer switch:

1. Remove the electricity from the circuit you are working on by turning the circuit breaker to OFF.
2. Disconnect the wires and ground, and remove the old switch.
3. Connect the dimmer wires.
4. Connect the ground wire from the power cable to the grounding wire on the dimmer switch.
5. Push the dimmer back into the box and screw it in via top and bottom threaded screws.
6. Reattach the wall plate.