Proximity actuated power control variable as to sense and magnitude

When connected to an ordinary A.C. power source, the apparatus has a power supply in which a circuit ground oscillates in voltage with respect to the earth ground, no matter with which polarity the apparatus is connected to the power source. A person's capacitative coupling to earth ground is employed to create a circuit in one or the other of two sensing heads (depending upon which the person approaches) to use that pulsating voltage to charge a capacitor in the respective sensing head. From one head the capacitor charge is applied to a memory in the sense to increase a potential stored in the memory while from the other head the charge is applied in the sense of decreasing the potential. The potential in the memory is employed as one component of the total voltage required to initiate the firing of a triac, whereby the phase angle of the firing will be determined by the magnitude of the stored potential.