Russ:
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I say no,..that whatever is consumed,ie;60 watt light bulb,..is still 60 watts consumed, dimmer or no dimmer, because the light output may be less,but the energy is dissipated in HEAT,..therefore,the meter sees the same consumption.

With the old-style resistance (and even some old reactance) dimmers, yes, you're right. The power otherwise used to heat the filament is lost as heat.

With the newer solid-state triac/SCR dimmers, not really. Although some losses occur in the electronics, they do function as gfretwell said by interrupting the current flow many times a second, so the meter would not read the same consumption. Less energy is indeed used.

So depending on what kind of dimmer you're talking about you're both right and wrong. [Linked Image]

BTW, I've enjoyed reading your posts and seeing the photos of things you've found!

Stupid should be painful.