A few years ago, we standardized on Lutron "Diva" dimmers for locations where we replaced or added switches.

It's been a while since we had to do so, but now that we are adding some new recessed lights, I took a look at what Lutron is offering.

Their new line has a "feature" called "eco-dim", which seems to add about $5 to the cost of the switches. They claim a minimum energy savings of 15%.

I dug a little deeper to figure out what miracle invention could claim such high savings and was somewhat disturbed to find the answer.

The power range for a standard "Diva" dimmer is about 10% to 100%.

The power range for an "eco-dim" dimmmer is about 10% to 85%.

Yes, the amazing invention that adds about 20-25% to the cost of the dimmer is they limit the maximum output to 85%. This, in turn, lowers the energy usage by 15% at a cost of never having your lights at full brightness. The same effect could be had by using their non-"eco-dim" dimmer and not pushing the slider all the way to the top.

Just thought I would pass this information on to hopefully save someone from paying more for one of these dimmers and wondering why their lights aren't as brights as they used to be.