Switch and Dimmer In Parallel

Sure, Michael. Keep in mind that with either of the on/off switches in the on position, the dimmer will have no effect. Also, while any one of the three can turn the light on, the others will be unable to turn the light off while the first is still on.

Be mindful of "polarity" also: one side of the 230 volt line should go directly to the light. The other side of the line would then be switched or controlled.

Of course, if you use DPDT switches, you need to be especially consistent in "polarity" since if switch A is on and switch B is subsequently turned on with reversed "polarity", poof.

Chuck

If your controlling them via software of some kind, surely its your job to work out if the switches will workout in parallel ?

And if your are talking about the lamps in parallel, it ill depend on the switching load of the transistors you are using.

sQuick..

Dunno about the UK, but over on the left side of the pond we have all sorts of X10 gizmaos that will make your juryriged monster look pitiful. Look into a Euro-X10 sort of solution.

Sounds like you mean you have multiple switches in parallel controlling the same lighting circuit. You should have some sort of mechanism to make sure only one of them is on at the same time. If you want more than one switch to control a lighing circuit, as in a switch on either side of a room, you should use 3-way or 4-way switches. It may get tricky with multiple dimmers, but I think they are available.

Also, you mentioned you are "rewiring", so if there are already multiple switches on the circuit, you are probably replacing 3-way (or