Why do so many UK electrical sockets have an on/off switch next to them?
Why do so many UK electrical sockets have an on/off switch next to them?
They're like that in this apartment we're renting and I keep seeing them elsewhere. I don't get it.
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Great for turning off a device or several devices without having to unplug (e.g. if the sockets are behind a bookcase, this is much more convenient). Not a super common need but when it saves moving furniture it helps. Given that UK switches are tougher to plug in and unplug than most (due to safety features), I prefer using a switch. Also, the switches are cheap and give more options, so may as well!
I rely on one for a light where the switch broke and wasn't easily replaceable, so being able to fall back on the mains switch meant I can keep using the light.
It’s not about having a switch it’s about having the switch right next to the plug instead of next to the doorway (where it usually is in the US)
You have a switch for your electrical sockets by your door? What a weird place to put them all.
We have our light switches by the door. Much more useful.
It's common in the U.S., especially in apartments, to have rooms with no light fixtures. Instead, there will be one outlet that is wired to a switch by the door. That outlet is sometimes upside down to distinguish it from the other outlets. That gives you the option to connect a lamp to the switch to get the same result as having a light fixture. I would generally prefer that every room has a light fixture on the ceiling, but this is marginally better than having to walk across a dark room to turn on a lamp.
Huh, TIL.
Here in Australia every house I've been in that has an electrical connection has had a light of some form mounted on the ceiling of each room of the main structure.
It just shows how any assumptions we might make will be proved wrong at a global scale.
As I understand it (thanks technology connections), the sockets linked to light switches are made that way in case you want to have like a floor or desk lamp and turn it on when you enter the room
I mean there can be either outlets or light fixtures connected to them, generally the switched outlets have lamps plugged in though.
And we have that too.
We are talking about standard sockets, they all have off switches on the socket.