Light dimmer switch history goes back to 1896, when Granville Woods patented his Safety Dimmer.

Early dimmers were controlled through the manual manipulation of large dimmer panels. This demanded all power to come through the lighting control spot, which would be inconvenient, amateurish and very dangerous for large powered systems.

Over the last decades, their energy efficiency has improved drastically.

Ever heard the buzzing sound from a dimmer?

The earliest dimmers decreased a light’s brightness by feeding less electricity into the bulb and converting the remaining energy into heat. That`s the reason why older dimmers and lights would get very hot – and bring up your electric bill.

 Ever heard a dimmer buzz? That was one of the side effects when energy was being converted to heat. Yeah you get the nice perfect light you wanted, but you also got the background sound of your electric bill ticking sky high. It got the job done, but this was a risky and inefficient method that didn’t actually save energy.

Now, thanks to engineering advancements and technological improvements, modern dimmers have the ability to reduce your bulb’s energy use, without waste – plus they are quiet.