# Light switches: Up/Down, On/Off **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904 "2004-10-24T15:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/21 "2004-10-26T06:53:51Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > For single switch controlled curcuits, up is typically the standard, but on double-switched circuits, as you might find at either end of a hallway, stairwell, or even some large rooms, the switch may be in either position, depending on the position of the other switch. I recently reqiresd my girlfriend’s house and she wanted four sets of double-switches (and that place isn’t even that big). As a result, she has more any which-way switches than standard on-up/off-down. She’ll get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/22 "2004-10-26T06:55:14Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > reqiresd Geshundheit, I say. And “rewired”, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/23 "2004-10-26T07:26:29Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > None of the light switches I have come across here have the toggles marked. In fact when we moved into our house a few months ago one of the switches was the wrong way round ( down = on ) . It was just a matter of undoing the two fascia screws and twisting the whole thing round to correct this. I imagine that this had happened when the previous owner had loosened the switch to paint round it. Thank you very much! You’ve just given me something to add to my list of pranks to play on people. Won’t it be fun next time I’m housesitting to change around all the switches in the house? You rock, **Rayne Man**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/24 "2004-10-26T07:47:11Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#): > > Thank you very much! You’ve just given me something to add to my list of pranks to play on people. Won’t it be fun next time I’m housesitting to change around all the switches in the house? You rock, **Rayne Man**! 😃 You want to be extremely careful doing that, though. The act of rotating the switch may cause the hot wire to come loose from its retaining hole or retaining screw, or you might accidentally touch the brass screws on the side when the hot wire is (or at least should be) attached and that would make the whole experience not-fun real quick. Well, for you, at least. The people watching you might be amused. If you do take a switch out for any reason, though, do the safe thing and wrap electrical tape around it to cover the brass and silver screws on the sides. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/25 "2004-10-26T08:29:51Z")
I’m curious - in the U.K., do you have dimmer switches with sliders, rather than a rotary knob, like [this one](http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1286896) or [this one](http://www.lampsplus.com/htmls/prodlist.asp?search=06871)? If so, does sliding them down make the light brighter? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/26 "2004-10-26T10:19:41Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > I’m curious - in the U.K., do you have dimmer switches with sliders, rather than a rotary knob, like [this one](http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1286896) or [this one](http://www.lampsplus.com/htmls/prodlist.asp?search=06871)? If so, does sliding them down make the light brighter? All the dimmer switches I have come across have always had a rotary knob. Sometimes , to switch them on, you turn them from zero and other times you just push the switch and the light comes on at the dimmer setting you last left in on ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/27 "2004-10-26T10:38:01Z")
The dimmer in the room I’m in at the moment is a rotary one. Clockwise=Power on; Anti-Clockwise=Power off. Never seen either of the examples cited by **Early Out**. Typical examples of light switches in the UK: [Single](http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/sustainablestaffordshire/yourbit/energy.htm) with some helpful advice from those nice people at Staffordshire County Council [Double](http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr3325.html) ---
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/28 "2004-10-26T11:03:02Z")
Imagine it’s dark - picth black - and you’re in a room… The movements you’re making with your hands are likely to be palm-down, hands outstreched. It’s possible you’ll slowly paddle your hands in a careful clawing motion hopeing that your fingertips touch upon the wall. When you reach the wall you continue this motion, feeling the surface for a switch - soon enough your fingertips touch a lightswitch. All you need to do is continue the tradjectory your hands were already motioning - from up to down - and the switch will be pushed down, into the on position. Anything else means you’d have to change the direction of your arm and push UP, against the pull of gravity, using a whole new set of typically weaker muscles and at an unnatural angle for your fingertips. I vote for DOWN = ON ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/29 "2004-10-26T11:14:15Z")
Imagine it’s dark - pitch black - and you’re in a room… Wall-mounted light switches seem to be generally at about the same level off the ground wherever you live. I’m quite short - 5’ 5" with the wind in the right direction - which puts switches round the level of my shoulder. Groping about with my arms outstretched, hands palms forward, as envisaged by **flapcats** , as soon as I hit a wall I reckon I’d be clawing downwards (a) because I am accustomed to switches that go that way but (b) because it is easier to pull your fingertips _down_ a wall than push them up it. When the standards for light switches were being set there must have been some logic behind it. But given the arguments being rehearsed here I’m buggered if I can see why we over here do it one way and you lot over there do it another. It’s like driving on the “wrong” side of the road … ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/30 "2004-10-26T11:50:34Z")
It should be noted that the types of switches used in the U.S. and the U.K. are different. In the U.S., there are usually toggle switches, where the toggle actually sticks out of the switch plate and you move it by pushing it up and down. In the U.K., there are usually rocker switches, where the switch is a rocker that is recessed into the switch plate and you move it by pushing the top or the bottom into the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/31 "2004-10-26T13:39:55Z")
In fact the switch and fascia plate are one single unit and the whole thing is secured by two screws into either a metal " back box " recessed into the wall or into a plastic back box which stands proud of the wall. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/32 "2004-10-26T14:12:27Z")
We do have quite a few toggle switches, too, **Wendell** , although they are becoming less common. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/33 "2004-10-26T14:34:52Z")
For some perverse reason, I remember the US convention by imagining some Russian guy named Downisov (down is off). Also reminds me when I showed my wife how to reset circuit breakers. “See how that one says ON” “No, it says OZ” “You’re reading it sideways.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/34 "2004-10-26T15:24:37Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > When we hear the word down, connotations of bad, dark, sad appear. Yeah, like “I’m down with that.” “Would you go down on me?” and “I’m going downtown to buy a down comfortor.” > [@](#): > > Up brings up ideas of light, heaven, hapiness, the sky. Ibid: “I fucked up.” “What a total cock-up.” “The project went toes-up.” “Up yours, pal.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/35 "2004-10-26T23:06:14Z")
> [@flapcats](#): > > Imagine it’s dark - picth black - and you’re in a room… > > The movements you’re making with your hands are likely to be palm-down, hands outstreched. It’s possible you’ll slowly paddle your hands in a careful clawing motion hopeing that your fingertips touch upon the wall. When you reach the wall you continue this motion, feeling the surface for a switch - soon enough your fingertips touch a lightswitch. All you need to do is continue the tradjectory your hands were already motioning - from up to down - and the switch will be pushed down, into the on position. > Anything else means you’d have to change the direction of your arm and push UP, against the pull of gravity, using a whole new set of typically weaker muscles and at an unnatural angle for your fingertips. I vote for DOWN = ON You don’t hafta _vote_. Just grab a screwdriver and go to it. Choice is good. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/36 "2004-10-26T23:35:24Z")
I’ve lived in apartments in the US with rocker switches. ---
**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/37 "2004-10-27T09:27:14Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > You don’t hafta _vote_. Just grab a screwdriver and go to it. > Choice is good. It’s a shame that philosophy can’t be applied to some US polititians so easily. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/38 "2004-10-27T12:23:00Z")
seosamh writes: \> We do have quite a few toggle switches, too . . . Anne Neville writes: \> I’ve lived in apartments in the US with rocker switches. This is why I wrote: \> In the U.K., there are usually . . . and: \> In the U.S., there are usually . . . Yes, and in both countries there are sometimes pull-string controls for lights, where the convention is down = on, down = off, but in the U.S. there are usually toggle switches and in the U.K. there are usually rocker switches. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904/39 "2004-10-27T16:28:00Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > You want to be extremely careful doing that, though. The act of rotating the switch may cause the hot wire to come loose from its retaining hole or retaining screw, or you might accidentally touch the brass screws on the side when the hot wire is (or at least should be) attached and that would make the whole experience not-fun real quick. > > Well, for you, at least. The people watching you might be amused. If you do take a switch out for any reason, though, do the safe thing and wrap electrical tape around it to cover the brass and silver screws on the sides. And thank you, **Bryan Ekers** , for that important safety tip. I shall strive to prank safely. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-switches-up-down-on-off/270904.md?page=1)