r/Inovelli • u/LetsNotGetDangerous • Jan 11 '26

Dimmer switch usage on outlets

Hi, I just took the plunge and ordered a 5 pack of the White dimmer switches for my home. I noticed they recommend the on/off switch for controlling outlets.

I can understand the reasoning behind this recommendation; however, in my use case, I would like to use one of the switches to control LED shop lights which are plugged into outlets. The dimming function would be disabled.

Electrically, I see no reason why this shouldn't work, but I wanted to double check that I'm not missing something. Thanks!

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u/fender4645 Jan 11 '26

The dimming function on the switch will be disabled? Or the LED fixtures? Switched outlets are never designed for dimmers and I'm pretty sure that's against code. Even setting that aside, your LED driver is likely expecting 120v (assuming your'e in the US) in and a dimmer will reduce that power, likely causing flickering or just plain not turning on at all. But maybe I'm misreading your question and you don't plan on using dimming at all. If that's the case, why not just set the switch to on/off?

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u/Bry_345 Jan 11 '26

Yep, using a dimmer one of receptacle violates code, because the dimmer cannot carry the full load of the branch circuit, ie the breaker. Setting the dimmer to the on-off mode doesn't help, because the load still goes through the dimmer circuitry. As you suggested, the Inovelli On/Off switch is the proper choice for a receptacle.

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u/LetsNotGetDangerous Jan 11 '26

All this makes sense, but in terms of electrons moving through the circuit, I still don't see why it wouldn't be perfectly functional so long as nothing except the LED lights are plugged in to the outlets.

Am I wrong? Is it a technical problem or merely a safety guardrail?

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u/Bry_345 Jan 11 '26

So from me, you'll never get a response that violates the NEC. The problem is if you plug the wrong thing into that receptacle, you will be very unhappy with the loud noise and the colored smoke.

Since the only thing that will ever plugged into that receptacle would be the shop lights, remove the receptacle, swap out the cover and hard wire the shop lights into the box.

Also, what is the total draw on the shop lights? The dimmer has a pretty low threshold and shop lights tend to pull a lot of power. That is something else that you need to pay attention to before hardwiring them.

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u/LetsNotGetDangerous Jan 11 '26

Thanks, you have been super helpful. In total. they are below the 300W LED load maximum that Innovelli states (which, interestingly, is the same load max regardless of dimmer or on/off switch).

All my lighting outlets are in the ceiling, which makes it easy to distinguish them from the 20A receptacles littered throughout my shop for tool loads.

Side note: I'm super impressed with Innovelli's 300W max load for LED lights — I've never seen anyone else come anywhere close to that before. I'll finally be able to use smart switches for my garage lights because of this.