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[Tony Mah]

Hello,

I am just wondering if an installation dimmer rack needs to be turned off when not in use? Say we have a building with house lights on an electronic dimming system. We people go home and the lights are faded to black, are the dimmers dimming the full load and still consuming electricity or is the power really off?

Tony

[Nick S.]

You should always turn dimmers off after a show - even when you've faded the lights off, the dimmers will still need power to supply their demux units, diagnostic systems, etc. etc. I'd advise you always turn off your dimmers after each show - it's safer, will decrease your bill (and even if you're not billed by how many units you use, you're still doing your bit for the environment), and might preserve the life of the dimmers.

[Rob Timmerman]

Powering down an installation dimmer rack when not in use isn't really needed, and if it's controlling houselights, powering it down is probably a bad idea.  When a dimmer is off, it is not dissipating much,if any, power.  The internal electronics are acting like a switch in the open position.  Yes, the control electronics will draw a little, but things like fans usually shut down.

[RWS]

On systems that control stage lighting only, I will power-down if there are long times between productions or useage.  At the University level, I power down during the summer.  Community Theater, I power down between shows if it is more than a month.  Touring or temporary rigs, I power down nightly.  
I dislike using a circuit breaker as a switch.  Doing this will cause the breaker to age prematurely.