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A nice Dimmer 
Subject dimmer is a compact, inexpensive dimmer, employing a classic, phase shift triac circuit. I took the trouble of removing the capacitor in front of the triac to identify it. On my unit it is a BTA16-600B. This is a 16A, 600V device, well capable of the claimed specs.
However, to control a load of 1500 Watts at 120V, the unit would have to deliver over 12A. Triacs have a drop of 1-1,5 Volts. One Volt at 12A is 12 Watts, and a lot of power for the minuscule heatsink to dissipate. I haven't tried to measure the temperature rise for more than a few seconds, bit I think that it would be a good idea to increase the size of the heatsink.
LS-
Small Controller Offers Precise Control 
I have plenty of DC voltage controls, but I needed one that works with AC. This little board fits the ticket. It has two input and two output terminals. Each terminal has a clamp bar under the screw to keep bare wire in place. I connected the inputs to 115VAC and ran the output to a 300 w flood lamp. The potentiometer sweep was about 80% from full power (110v) down to barely glowing (16v). Control was very precise and smooth; there were no "jumps" or "spikes" in brightness. Next, I connected it to a 1500 w floor heater. The potentiometer sweep was only about 20-30% of the full dial range, but control of the fan speed was still very precise and I didn't notice any loss of power at full power. This seems to be a quality product, easy to connect, very precise, with firmly attached components and a smooth-turning control dial.
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$23.50 each
