I've received an e-mail inquiry from somebody wanting to install a European chandelier in an American home. Apparently it uses ten bulbs, and they're rather specialized types which can't be obtained in 120V versions, so the plan is to run a dedicated 240V branch for the two fixtures (she already brought back a supply of bulbs from Europe).
The plan is to run on a dimmer, and herein I see a problem. First, are there any U.S.-market 240V dimmers? I've checked through the Graybar catalog and can see only 120 and 277V types.
There's the possibility of using an American-made dimmer intended for export to 220/240V standards (it seems that Lutron might do one), but are there any such dimmers with double-pole switching? A single-pole one would work of course, but would not be code-compliant as it would leave the fixture hot when turned off.
Can anybody think of any other workaround which would be code compliant? Maybe a double-gang box with dimmer and adjacent double-pole switch?
The only other way I can see would be to run a normal 120V branch through the dimmer and install a transformer for the chandeliers (600 watts total each).
Any other ideas or code problems? I've already thought of the possibility of an inspector not liking a fixture which doesn't have UL approval.
