My 2nd Wickes dimmer switch has just blown
There's your other problem, right there.Its a 10m long Kitchen Dinner with two sets of these on one circuit
http://www.wickes.co.uk/bullet-6-bar-spotlight/invt/187033/
What do you think?If I were to use a 300W dimmer on a 336W circuit would that be asking for trouble?
You're trying to light a room using lights which are specifically designed to not light a room - that's why you've had to put a stupidly high amount of wattage in there, to try and get around the fact that the lights are deliberately made to be unsuitable.
No - for lighting rooms you should be using lights designed to light rooms. Using torches is what you're doing now. They may not run off batteries but they are still 2" diameter reflector lamps.Ban-all-sheds ... Why? Should I be using candles or torches
They are still spotlights - they produce small spots of light, not an even, wide spread of light.Building inspector would not let me use recessed spots ... becuase of celotex in part of this room's garage conversion ...hence these ...
Aurora dimmers are pretty much the industry standard in my area....
Many dimmers are not suitable for use with halogen lamps due to the much higher current when they are switched on.
Some manufacturers recommend derating the dimmer by 50%, so your 1kW dimmer probably was only suitable for 500W of halogen lighting.
Unless the 400W dimmer you have found is specifically suitable for halogen lights, it too will fail.
It's still around 3 times what you'd need with lights fit for purpose.336W will be a lot better ...
Aurora dimmers are pretty much the industry standard in my area....
One person who made one posting and then disappeared said that dimmers don't need derating when used with halogen lamps.Thats subject discussed here ... It seems not the case?
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=88276
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local