Dimmer & pullcord on same circuit

[Schmill]

I want to put a dimmer switch on the bathroom light, (which will be placed OUTSIDE) the bathroom, but am tempted to also keep the pull-cord inside the bathroom for simplicity sake to avoid people having to 'fiddle' with the dimmer.

Firstly - would this work?
Secondly - As I understand it, the pullcord will just switch the light between full-on and full-off, and the dimmer will, well, dim. I just wanted to check that when you pull the pullcord it doesn't switch the light onto whatever brightness the dimmer is set to?

Alternatively is is possible to get one of the 'push on-off dimmers', (where you push the knob in to switch the light on or off, and then the dim function is performed by rotating the knob? I'm thinking that I could leave it set to max brightness normally, and set it to a lower brightness for night time.

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[1john]

get a dimming pull cord instead, what you are proposing sounds confusing

 

[1john]

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In...ng_Accessories~Dimmers_All/Dimpull/index.html

 

[Schmill]

How does that operate? (I wasn't even aware that they existed!)
I want to keep the switching fairly simple as there are young children in the house, (hence thinking about having the pull cord as well as the dimmer, or having a push-on type dimmer).
Interested to know how this works if you have a few moments to explain?

Thanks

 

[nozspark]

Normally pull on - hold to dim - pull off

 

[JohnnyG]

How does that operate? (I wasn't even aware that they existed!)
I want to keep the switching fairly simple as there are young children in the house, (hence thinking about having the pull cord as well as the dimmer, or having a push-on type dimmer).
Interested to know how this works if you have a few moments to explain?

Thanks

As nozspark mentioned above, see here:
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/Other/Dimpull.htm

 

[Risteard]

Two-way switching with a pullcord and a dimmer switch will cause the light to illuminate at the brightness the dimmer switch is set at when operated.

How on earth could the pullcord turn the knob on the dimmer switch to operate it at full brightness?

 

[Schmill]

Two-way switching with a pullcord and a dimmer switch will cause the light to illuminate at the brightness the dimmer switch is set at when operated.

How on earth could the pullcord turn the knob on the dimmer switch to operate it at full brightness?

Yeah, I wasn't imagining that it would turn the knob

I just wasn't sure if the pull-cord would complete a 'seperate' circuit feed to the light, and hence just switch it on and off, and the dimmer would also be seperate. Anyhoo, sounds like the dimming pull-cord will do what I want with no unwanted sideeffects, and it saves me channeling the wall outside the bathroom

Thanks to all!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I just wanted to check that when you pull the pullcord it doesn't switch the light onto whatever brightness the dimmer is set to?

That's exactly what it will do.

Alternatively is is possible to get one of the 'push on-off dimmers', (where you push the knob in to switch the light on or off, and then the dim function is performed by rotating the knob?

Yes, but when you push it to turn it on it will come on at the brightness level the dimmer is set to.

I'm thinking that I could leave it set to max brightness normally, and set it to a lower brightness for night time.

You could, but you'd have to change the brightness setting every morning and every night.

 

[TicklyT]

How about two completely seperate lights?
'Functional' lighting on a pull cord switch, and completely seperate 'mood' lighting on aanother switch or dimmer?

Set up your minimum lighting level by selecting lights with an appropriate output, used with a pull cord switch, and add supplementary lights controlled by a seperate switch or dimmer, giving you the choice of one, t'other or both?

 

[Schmill]

Thanks to all, we did consider multiple lighting schemes, but it is only a small room and we took so long deciding over the main light I really couldn't face going through all that again - lol
I have now ordered one of the dim-pull switches linked to earlier, sounds ideal. Pull to switch on and off at full brightness, but it can be dimmed if wanted, and it's the 'dimming' that is the 'complicated' bit, so the kids can still just go in and switch the light on and off as they are used to, but the missus can have her soak in the bath with the light down low