The right lighting lets you set the mood with the flick of a switch. Interior designers say that there are three types of lighting: ambient lighting, overall lighting such as overhead lights; task lighting, such as reading lamps; and accent lighting, such as highlights on artwork. A dimmer on the overhead lighting lets you use other forms of lighting to enhance your decor and change the mood. You can use dimmers to turn down the lights for a relaxing bath or a romantic candlelit dinner or help add to the movie-theater ambiance in your home theater.

Dimmers also save energy and extend bulb life. But if you have an older house, you may have a type of dimmer switch that does not save you energy. The old rheostat type of dimmer just diverts some of the energy passing through it, using about the same amount of energy as having bulbs on at full brightness. Modern dimmers, including most of those readily available at hardware and home improvement stores, actually reduce the voltage, reducing energy use while only losing a small percentage of the savings to operate the dimmer circuit.

The reduction in light does not completely reflect the reduction in energy use. For example, a 100-watt bulb dimmed to the equivalent light output of a 60-watt bulb actually draws about 70 watts. If you are concerned about energy efficiency and always leave a light dimmed to a lower level, you might be better off just using a lower wattage compact fluorescent bulb.

Of course, the most efficient lights are fluorescent bulbs. The earlier compact fluorescents couldn't be used with dimmers, but there are now dimmable compact fluorescents available. Just read the bulb label carefully to make sure you can use the bulb with a dimmer.

Using dimmers will significantly extend the life of your incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs fail after the heat of the bulb evaporates the coating on the filament. Because dimmed lights operate at lower temperatures, they last longer. One dimmer manufacturer claims that a bulb dimmed by 20 percent can last four times as long and a bulb dimmed by 50 percent can last as much as 20 times as long.

If you are comfortable working around electricity, most dimmers are simple to install. They merely replace your current switch. Be sure to turn off the switch at the breaker and test the connection with a circuit tester before attempting to replace any switch. If you're not sure of your electrical skills, call an electrician.

Dimmers Offer Variety

Modern dimmers offer a lot more variety than the old click-and-turn styles. Touch dimmers change the lighting level at the touch of a button and can include a feature that returns the lighting to the previous level at a touch. Some dimmers have a lighted indicator that shows the current setting and helps you locate the switch. There are slide dimmers that can be set to a specific lighting level so that the light is the same whenever you turn them on. You can control the level of the light and fan speed in your ceiling fan with a switch that includes a dimmer and fan speed controls.

Remote-control dimmers are available, as well as dimmers for lamps. Just plug the dimmer into the lamp and then into the outlet, much like an extension cord, and control the lamp with an inline switch.