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It is very common to have multiple switches controlling the same light (example: two switchs on both side of the bed controlling a single ceiling light). The p

It is very common to have multiple switches controlling the same light (example: two switchs on both side of the bed controlling a single ceiling light). The position of an electrical switch is not designed to signal the status of what it controls. Source: I was an electrician apprentice in my teens. Edit: wiki (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiway_switching https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiway_switching)

13of40 8y ago
If my electrician installed half of the single switch circuits with the switch upside down I wouldn't ask him to come back for the next job.
- akvadrako 8y ago
  Within a house they should be consistent. But I have some American friends in Europe with their switches wired the US way.
- ronilan 8y ago
  You are missing the point, it’s a feature not a bug. Single-switch is commonly installed with the top-pressed-in meaning “on”. For multiway-switch the position is not a status indicator. Both types of switches can be present in multiple places around the house. Thus, position of “a switch” is not an indicator. Example: my living room light panel (Vancouver, build circa. 2005). All lights are on in both pictures: http://imgur.com/8CTZOHZ http://imgur.com/8CTZOHZ
  - arbie 8y ago
    In some hotels of the world, light switches always go back to their default position upon toggle. It is counterintuitive that there's one and only one affordance to turn off a light and to turn it on.
mirimir 8y ago
Using lighted switches, I'm pretty sure that one could have both switches lit when the light was off, and both switches dark when the light was on.
derefr 8y ago
> The position of an electrical switch is not designed to signal the status of what it controls. Wouldn’t the right affordance (at least for multiway switches) be a button, then? Especially with an indicator LED in the that is lit by drawing from line voltage, thus showing whether the completed system is on or off.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  A button closes (or opens) a circuit for a short while and then goes back. This is not the expected behavior.
- josefx 8y ago
  With that setup you need a central control that the buttons toggle on or off. I imagine that would be more complex than just running a cable from one switch to the next. Not exactly the most user friendly solution, however possibly the cheapest.
  - function_seven 8y ago
    You can have a mechanical button toggle the position of the interior switching hardware. Every press will flip the switch inside to the opposite path. Like the button on top of a retractable pen. Maybe a bit more complicated; there are moving parts required to index the action. But doable without extra wiring or centralized control.
  - derefr 8y ago
    Not really. I was imagining a toggle switch button—like the kind that goes in and out to express its state, where the “in” state is literally bridging contacts with the back of the button—but without the in/out state being exposed externally, since it’s not accurate to the state of the system as a whole. Instead, it would be a spring-loaded toggle where the spring is less compressed when on and more compressed when off, to make the button face remain at the same push-depth either way, while still having an in-out switch behind it. Like the mechanical NumLock key on early keyboards. So each switch-button is still connected in series; all the LED indicator faces on the switches are powered by line voltage of the circuit; and so, when the circuit is completed, all the switches become lit; and when any switch is toggled, the circuit is broken, and so no LED is then receiving power.

13of40 8y ago

If my electrician installed half of the single switch circuits with the switch upside down I wouldn't ask him to come back for the next job.

akvadrako 8y ago
Within a house they should be consistent. But I have some American friends in Europe with their switches wired the US way.
ronilan 8y ago
You are missing the point, it’s a feature not a bug. Single-switch is commonly installed with the top-pressed-in meaning “on”. For multiway-switch the position is not a status indicator. Both types of switches can be present in multiple places around the house. Thus, position of “a switch” is not an indicator. Example: my living room light panel (Vancouver, build circa. 2005). All lights are on in both pictures: http://imgur.com/8CTZOHZ http://imgur.com/8CTZOHZ
- arbie 8y ago
  In some hotels of the world, light switches always go back to their default position upon toggle. It is counterintuitive that there's one and only one affordance to turn off a light and to turn it on.

mirimir 8y ago

Using lighted switches, I'm pretty sure that one could have both switches lit when the light was off, and both switches dark when the light was on.

derefr 8y ago

> The position of an electrical switch is not designed to signal the status of what it controls. Wouldn’t the right affordance (at least for multiway switches) be a button, then? Especially with an indicator LED in the that is lit by drawing from line voltage, thus showing whether the completed system is on or off.

marcosdumay 8y ago
A button closes (or opens) a circuit for a short while and then goes back. This is not the expected behavior.
josefx 8y ago
With that setup you need a central control that the buttons toggle on or off. I imagine that would be more complex than just running a cable from one switch to the next. Not exactly the most user friendly solution, however possibly the cheapest.
- function_seven 8y ago
  You can have a mechanical button toggle the position of the interior switching hardware. Every press will flip the switch inside to the opposite path. Like the button on top of a retractable pen. Maybe a bit more complicated; there are moving parts required to index the action. But doable without extra wiring or centralized control.
- derefr 8y ago
  Not really. I was imagining a toggle switch button—like the kind that goes in and out to express its state, where the “in” state is literally bridging contacts with the back of the button—but without the in/out state being exposed externally, since it’s not accurate to the state of the system as a whole. Instead, it would be a spring-loaded toggle where the spring is less compressed when on and more compressed when off, to make the button face remain at the same push-depth either way, while still having an in-out switch behind it. Like the mechanical NumLock key on early keyboards. So each switch-button is still connected in series; all the LED indicator faces on the switches are powered by line voltage of the circuit; and so, when the circuit is completed, all the switches become lit; and when any switch is toggled, the circuit is broken, and so no LED is then receiving power.