Wonder if some of you tech heads could help me out . I am trying to reduce power to a heating element . The element is 2050W AC . If I place a 20A stud rectifier in series with the element then what will be the reduction in power of the element . I am thinking that by half wave rectification then I would be halving the power but my AC theory could do with brushing up . By placing a switch in parallel with the diode then I could run the element at full power when required . Also would it be possible to use one or two elements from a bridge rectifier in place of the diode as they are cheaper and more easily available . If a bridge rectifier is rated at 35A , what would each individual rectifier be rated at ? Thanks for any help you can give .