European rocker switches are on when down. US ones on when up. Thus the Swiss made life easy with push buttons that require no translation...
It's to help SOME Americans:
Nope it is a sign of the times thing......we did have them, my grandparents had the first click-clack model in their flats
https://www.duden.de/_media_/full/L/...1020400890.jpg
and when growing up we had the second , 'softer seesawing'' model in our flat
https://cache.pressmailing.net/conte...2f08a3ce/image
the push buttons are a modern thingymajig :P :P
Unless they are mounted the other way.
Tom
Or there are multiple switches for the same lamp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiway_switching
Because we are not knob heads but handy people
Do not see the advantage of turning knobs (apart the bear case). Handles can be opened with woolly gloves, when you carry a package, when you have a weak grip, or no hands at all.
But at least the old ugly standard push buttons were also available in a version where a pushed button remained recessed.
In principle, I quite like the Swiss push-button switches; they look neat and tidy and they're easy to operate. But they're downright dangerous when it comes to working on a light fitting, for example, as you can't tell whether the power is on or off, thereby necessitating full-scale cutting of the power at the fuse box, handily located outside the building and secured by some bizarre key that nobody can remember seeing.
They do have the advantage of keeping their tidy symmetry even when multi-switching is in place, but of course rocker switches can all be aligned in the off position when the light is off, whether there are two, three, four, or more switches involved.
Why do power sockets/outlets here (and in most European countries) not have switches?
Because all these countries never had Brits meddling with the electricity.
The better question is why do have many countries which were once part of the British Empire switches right next to the socket?
Here a long discussion with many theories:
Down right dangerous is not to unscrew the fuse/flip the breaker when working on wires. What if a an other person enters mindlessly the room and flips the switch by pure habit?
We used to have them in very old houses. I guess, they are just outdated.
I like those actually. I wouldn't mind having them here.
I have better things to think about at 4am
What if there's nobody else in the house? More to the point, if there were somebody else there and they discovered that the power had gone out, they may well go and check the fuse box... That's when I'd like to be sure that the light switch is turned off, as a fallback precaution.
I don't think that's a better question, unless you consider questions with obvious answers to be superior questions. Switching off the power before plugging an appliance in or out reduces risk to the user, for example from the arcing that can occur at the moment of contact.
If you don't like switches next to power outlets, you can't be too happy with the majority of Swiss light switches, which incorporate a power outlet into the design of the light switch. Power outlets at chest height are useful for vacuum cleaners and not much else.
Most of the light switches in our apartment (bathrooms, hallway, kitchen and shared areas) are rocker switches and the apartment was built in 2009.
The bedrooms are push button.
Put a paper and some tape the fuse box (but than you could also tape a plastic cup over the light switch).
Or go professional:
It's only a UK thing, as the circuit has 32 amps available on a ring main, you could get a big spark disconnecting a plug. The plugs are fused as 32 amps is too much power available, it's a bodge started after the war to sabe on copper as the cables are thinner because they are connected both sides in a ring rather than a fused spur everywhere else.
You can safely draw 26 Amps by putting 2 plugs in a double socket, some professional UK manufactured equipment does this so 3 phase is not required.
In the UK Down Off is indeed a standard, but in France and Switzerland, that I'm aware of, they're equally likely to be the other way. In fact at our French house I think they were mainly the 'wrong' way, until I changed them all.
This is all correct, except that the addition of switches only took place when the old round-pin sockets were switched to square ones in the 1960s. Also the reason that all sockets are 3-pin, whether the appliance needs an earth or not, i.e. so that is never possible, like it is in France, for example, to connect an earthed appliance to a non-earthed supply.
BS1363 is from 1947 so 13amp plugs were around way before the 1960's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_pow..._related_types
Round pin sockets are not used on a 32a ring main, hence no switch required although optional.
Hi All
Im looking to replace some of the old push button switches in my house with the new Feller push button ones however not sure which switch I need.
its a 2-way switch however (top / bottom of stair case) hornbach sell several of the inserts and I cannot tell which is the right one. I think its this one
https://www.hornbach.ch/shop/Edizio-...2/artikel.html
I'll take a photo of the old switch later...
It says "Kreuzschalter" which is what you need when you want to switch lights from 3 or more control points.
For 2 control points (top and bottom of staircase) you'll probably need a "Wechselschalter".
Source: https://www.spar-helferchen.de/Licht...ml#Ausschalter
For the connections there are nice diagrams online if you search the two keywords (e.g. on Wikipedia).
For two stair switches, one at the top. and one at the bottom, each switch only needs to be a change-over (Feller Schema 3).
For three switches - one of the three needs to have a cross-over (Schema 6) - This is the one in your Hornbach link.
You need Schema 3. For example: Edizio Due UP switch SCH3 white
It's half the price.
(I didn't see Venetian's post when I posted but it seems we concur which is reassuring!)