Dimmers and your Lights

There are lot's of times when you don't want the lights on at full brightness. An example is a long length of red ropelight you might use to show a "do not cross" boundary around the perimeter of the light display. If you dim this ropelight you'll save about 50% in energy.

There are several dimming techniques. You can always go to the home improvement store and ask for a lamp dimmer.  Be careful.  Most of these will only handle 300-600 watts.  If your dimming load is higher you'll cook the dimmer.

You can use the professional stuff called DMX and control the dimming by a computer. This is expensive hardware and can typically handle high current demands. Pro Sound and Stage Lighting is a good place to start. It helps if you already have a theatrical background because DMX can get pretty technical in a hurry.

You might also consider components from Animated Lighting, D-Light, Light-O-Rama since they are geared more towards the Christmas light enthusiasts of the world.