Dave, yes even new dimmers make heat and yes that is wasted power.

However the heat given off by a solid state dimmer will be far less than the heat and light that the lamp will not be giving off.

I agree as always there is much marketing hype to get by.

For your own piece of mind put a clamp meter around the line side of the a dimmer and cycle the dimmer up and down, you will see the current cycle to match.

Jon, sometime I will put a more efficient light at the back door, the big floods are there to light a large patch of driveway. However dimmed down they do a nice job to. [Linked Image]

Bob

Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts