# Clicking Lamps On and Off **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463 "2013-02-06T06:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/1 "2013-02-06T06:32:57Z")
Okay, this may be the most insipid question since the debate about toilet paper (unroll upwards, or unroll downwards?) But… Lots of lamps, built for four-way bulbs, and when fitted with ordinary bulbs, go: click (nothing) click (on) click (nothing) click (off.) Two clicks on, two clicks off. So… Do you have your lamp set so that the first click turns on the light, or set so that the second click turns on the light? And…is there any real reason why, or is it just the way you grew up, or the way you’re used to, or the way aunt Beatrice did it, or the way it worked on an old episode of Gomer Pyle, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/2 "2013-02-06T07:41:24Z")
I just twist the knob until it does what I want. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/3 "2013-02-06T07:47:50Z")
Me too. If I want it on, I just click until it turns on. It’s no big deal when it does it. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/4 "2013-02-06T14:06:55Z")
this is a deep psychological question which has roots in if you were bottle fed and were allowed to cry yourself to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/5 "2013-02-06T14:10:16Z")
Usually you need two clicks to turn on a three way lamp with a regular bulb in it. Probably would be better to have the right bulb in there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/6 "2013-02-06T14:19:43Z")
I voted second click. But that’s just how they work. There is no “setting” to change it. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/7 "2013-02-06T18:01:32Z")
Second click, because I stop when the lamp is how I want it. Once it’s on, I don’t turn it on _more._ So when I turn it off, I have to cycle through that extra “on” to get to “off,” where I stop. Etc. Edit: Although I can understand someone who needs to keep the "on"s and "off"s segregated. I’m a little OCD too, just not about that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/8 "2013-02-06T18:41:35Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I voted second click. But that’s just how they work. There is no “setting” to change it. Same here. There are some that you can actually set? I just keep turning the knob till the light comes on. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/9 "2013-02-06T21:14:55Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I voted second click. But that’s just how they work. There is no “setting” to change it. It’s not about settings. Once you know that you need 2 clicks for each action, you have the possibility of doing one too many clicks this time when you turn it on, so that when the time comes to turn it off you’ll only need to do ONE click. And vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/10 "2013-02-06T21:22:47Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > It’s not about settings. Once you know that you need 2 clicks for each action, you have the possibility of doing one too many clicks this time when you turn it on, so that when the time comes to turn it off you’ll only need to do ONE click. And vice versa. But you’re still turning it on (or off as the case may be) with the second click. You’re just waiting a while between the first and second clicks. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/11 "2013-02-06T21:59:52Z")
You really should have an option for not paying any attention to the issue at all. I click until I get light and when I want dark, I click until I get that. The next time I turn on the light, I doubt I would notice if I clicked it once or twice. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/12 "2013-02-07T00:23:51Z")
Thanks for responses! I guess “click till it comes on” is functionally the same as “comes on at second click,” because, otherwise, to maintain the status, you’d have to click (light comes on) and then click again – and why would anyone do this? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/13 "2013-02-07T00:40:11Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You really should have an option for not paying any attention to the issue at all. I click until I get light and when I want dark, I click until I get that. The next time I turn on the light, I doubt I would notice if I clicked it once or twice. And sometimes I click it too many times, and have to go around a few times. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/14 "2013-02-07T00:47:26Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > to maintain the status, you’d have to click (light comes on) and then click again – and why would anyone do this? I did this so that if I ever didn’t click the second time, the lamp’d still be doing what I wanted and I could “reset” the pattern later. This was especially important when I had a ceiling lamp that was hard to reach from bed, so if I got one pull off the string (turning the light off) and slipped on the second one, I could just deal with it the next day. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/15 "2013-02-07T01:19:14Z")
I guess I’m a little too obsessive about things working right and never even considered putting a 1-way bulb into a 3-way lamp, so I don’t know. Throw the lamp out might be my answer! Now that I think about it, I don’t have any like that currently, just grew up with them. The closest thing I have now is a lamp with three bulbs and three separate pulls. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/16 "2013-02-07T01:50:10Z")
For me, these kinds of lamps usually work more like this: Click once. It’s still off. Click again, but it turns really easy all of a sudden so I actually click twice; the light flashes on for a second and now it’s off again. Think to myself, “ah-hah, got to click twice now.” Click twice and it clicks really fast the second time, going for a THIRD click. The light flashes for a second and is still off. Hurl lamp against wall and use the mini-flashlight on my keychain. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/17 "2013-02-07T03:09:36Z")
Anybody else wondering what a four-way bulb is? The most I’ve ever seen is a three-way bulb. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/18 "2013-02-07T04:07:05Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Anybody else wondering what a four-way bulb is? The most I’ve ever seen is a three-way bulb. it’s a very kinky bulb. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/19 "2013-02-07T04:18:35Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Anybody else wondering what a four-way bulb is? The most I’ve ever seen is a three-way bulb. Obvious, innit? The “fourth way” is off! ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463/20 "2013-02-07T05:22:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Obvious, innit? The “fourth way” is off! Right. There are 2 filaments with different powers, so the sequence goes something like weakfilament - strongfilament - bothfilaments - pitchblack . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clicking-lamps-on-and-off/649463.md?page=2)