light bulbs

[awilson]

I had an electrician install a dimmer switch for my family room recessed lighting. Does the dimmer switch require certain types of indoor flood lights because the dimmer switch does not work anymore?

 

[ninebob]

Did the electrician not test the install before he left?

In the UK, some types of lighting are not compatible with dimmers, most notably fluorescent lighting.

However, as your location is showing as the USA, you'd be better off posting your query in "Electrics out of the UK".

 

[AdamW]

Recessed lighting? Sounds like halogen downlighters to me.

If these are "low voltage" lights then it sounds like your transformer is not compatible with your dimmer switch.

 

[securespark]

Adam

It could be both halogen & recessed....

Maybe the dimmer is not up to the load.

 

[kendor]

Is the dimmer feeding a wire wound transformer? If so then your dimmer switch may be working ok still but that the primary winding of the transformer has ruptured you can test for this by disconnecting the transformer and checking for a continuity reading between the terminals of the primary winding, if blown this will suggest that the dimmer is not compatible with inductive loads. make sure you have isolated the circuit before you work on it.

 

[AdamW]

It could be both halogen & recessed....

That is exactly what I said: downlighters are recessed, that's why you need to cut holes in the ceiling to install them! Plus they are often halogen

There was nothing saying if it was ceiling-recessed or wall-recessed, so I chose the former as more likely.