Electrical switches and dimmers control electric loads in general and lamps in particular. Electrical switches typically switch all kind of loads but the application of dimmers is restricted to lamps. Depending on the dimmer method only resistive incandescent or a broader range of inductive and reactive loads are dimmable.

When installing an electrical switch or dimmer the wiring system is important. There are 2-wire and 3-wire systems. In a 2-wire system the pattress box offers only the incoming and the outgoing wire. No neutral wire (blue) is available. In order to power the electronics of the switch or the dimmer a minimum load needs to be connected to the device. In the 3-wire system the neutral wire (blue) is available and connected to the device. The device is powered from the incoming wires regardless of attached loads. Switches or dimmers are either provided as pattress box insert without any local operation or they are wall switches with local switching paddles. In case of the manufacturer Popp the box insert can be completed with a switching paddle and a mounting frame and becomes a fully functional wall switch with local operations. Wall switches and wall dimmers typically receive Z-Wave commands and perform  local switching and dimming. They are controlled by a Z-Wave controller and powered by the 230 V they are switching or dimming. The following table gives an overview on which switch and which dimmer is suited for 2- or 3-wire-systems.