# Mystery switches, gizmos,doors and wiring **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174 "2014-12-02T23:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/41 "2014-12-04T23:12:06Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > This house is festooned with mysterious wiring. Apparently, there used to be a pool here, as at a back corner, there’s a collection of outlets, boxes, weatherproof switches and a big timer. None of it does anything now. The builder was also nutty for outlets - there are fourteen outlets in the garage, six of which are in the ceiling. you don’t want cords on the floor with the traffic a garage has. keeps tool and recharger use local drop cords in open spaces is not a nutty idea. though this is done with reels or twist-lock extension cords. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/42 "2014-12-04T23:20:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > My Ex-grandfather-in-law’s house: He was a EE by trade and a tinkerer on the side. He added a water meter to his water heater to see how much hot water he was using. He ran water pipes (before the water heater) up to his roof and installed his own solar panels to pre-heat the water back in the 60’s or 70’s. while solar preheating the feed water for the heater is a good idea it is done with a closed loop with antifreeze. while a homeowner might make something up, if they used potable water they risk lots of water damage especially in a freezing winter environment. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/43 "2014-12-04T23:29:20Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I installed a mystery switch in my house. > > I had a room with three lights on the ceiling all controlled by the same switch and I wanted to install an independently switched ceiling fan in place of the middle light. So I cut a hole in the wall, installed a new switch, and hooked it up to the electric line running in the wall. > > That’s when I removed the center light fixture and discovered that they’d actually connected two sets of wires to the one switch, one for the outer two lights and a second for the center light… exactly what I needed after replacing the old single switch with a double switch. > > So now I have a switch on the wall of that room that is connected to power but nothing else. I’ve been looking for the perfect switch to put there which will cause the most confusion for the next owner, something like this [Panic Button](http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Button-Light-Switch-Replacement/dp/B009SOI6PK) but ideally one that lights up to prove it is connected to power. you can get small toggle or pushbutton switches that mount in a single switch box that has an indicator light next to it. they are used for less noticed or far away things. not as flashy as a Panic Button, which could be more obvious a joke, but more a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/44 "2014-12-06T16:53:45Z")
Two posters have mentioned useless switches in their bathrooms. My guess: for an infrared light. There might have once been a combo infrared light/fan fixture. Each had its own switch. At some point it was replaced by just a fan. Ergo, one useless switch. (Or perhaps a former regular/infrared combo. Same deal.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/45 "2014-12-06T19:12:31Z")
There is a switch in my living room that does nothing. But every room in the house as originally built has an overhead light except the living room. So I figure that’s what it was originally. I guess if I put in a ceiling fan in the living room, I would find wiring in the middle of the room. The house should be rewired anyway. Need more grounded outlets and more outlets period. It wasn’t built for all the electronics that need to be plugged in or devices that have to be charged. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/46 "2014-12-06T22:04:20Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > There is a switch in my living room that does nothing. But every room in the house as originally built has an overhead light except the living room. So I figure that’s what it was originally. I guess if I put in a ceiling fan in the living room, I would find wiring in the middle of the room. The house should be rewired anyway. Need more grounded outlets and more outlets period. It wasn’t built for all the electronics that need to be plugged in or devices that have to be charged. 1. It is quite typical in a situation like this to have the switch go to an outlet. Plug a lamp in the outlet, that’s the main light for the room. 2. It then follows that a lot of people hate this, for example they need to have that outlet always on for some device. So the switch gets bypassed. There is very little chance that there’s wiring from the switch somewhere in the ceiling. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/47 "2014-12-07T00:19:02Z")
My family room has four switches, in groups of two, on the wall. First switch controls the outlet nearest the switches. This is annoying, as I need to plug “always on” stuff into it in addition to a lamp, so I have the switch covered up so no one can shut it off. Yes, without doing that people would shut it off no matter how often I said don’t do that and to turn off the lamp at the lamp. Second switch controls a pair of lights on the ceiling. No big story here. Third switch controls a ceiling fan. Fourth switch? Not a damn thing. Not any of the other outlets in the room. Not anything outside. Not anything in the adjacent kitchen. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. (stupid sexy flanders) If they were only going to use three switches, why not one set of two and one lone switch instead of two sets of two? It’s so annoying to have a switch that does nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/48 "2014-12-07T00:24:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > If they were only going to use three switches, why not one set of two and one lone switch instead of two sets of two? It’s so annoying to have a switch that does nothing. Symmetry? They could also have used a gang of three. I’ve got one on a wall in my house. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/49 "2014-12-07T00:56:21Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > My family room has four switches, in groups of two, on the wall. > > First switch controls the outlet nearest the switches. This is annoying, as I need to plug “always on” stuff into it in addition to a lamp, so I have the switch covered up so no one can shut it off. Yes, without doing that people would shut it off no matter how often I said don’t do that and to turn off the lamp at the lamp. > > Second switch controls a pair of lights on the ceiling. No big story here. > > Third switch controls a ceiling fan. > > Fourth switch? Not a damn thing. Not any of the other outlets in the room. Not anything outside. Not anything in the adjacent kitchen. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. (stupid sexy flanders) > > If they were only going to use three switches, why not one set of two and one lone switch instead of two sets of two? It’s so annoying to have a switch that does nothing. I have a similar setup. The “switch that has no function” is an extra set of wires going to the ceiling fan box. It’s not used because the fans I installed have wireless remotes so the switch and wires aren’t used. I have the same setup in several rooms. Check your financial electrical box and see if there are any unconnected wires in there. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/50 "2014-12-07T02:33:47Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > In one of the server rooms at Best Buy HQ, there’s a great, big red button about 4" across, halfway down the wall with a conduit going up to the ceiling. It’s not labelled. Nobody knows what it does. The urge to hit it is nigh-overwhelming. > > My apartment has a non-functioning switch on the wall near the front door, and one in the bedroom, which do nothing; I figure they were originally to turn off one of the wall sockets. They couldn’t be arsed to keep it that way when they upgraded the wiring. There’s a buzzer over the door that’s been painted over so many times you can’t make out any of the features. I was told when I moved in that the buzzers don’t work any more. Gee, I wonder why? Halon manual pull stations are always clearly labeled. They always will require two steps to operate. The most common one we install is a round button with a spring clip stopping someone from just pushing it. [Fike Manual pull station](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fike-10-1638-101638-Manual-Release-Switch/400808863598?_trksid=p2054897.c100204.m3164&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140407115239%26meid%3D4f905039c27e45cab52ce6fe00c1ff3a%26pid%3D100204%26prg%3D20140407115239%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D30%26sd%3D221529975696) A large, unmarked round red button could be an Emergency Power Off Switch ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/51 "2014-12-07T10:17:00Z")
My parent’s house, which was cobbled together by a series of amateurs throughout it’s 100+ year history, had plenty of these. Then dad got sick of it and redid all the wiring into something that made sense (so the microwave in kitchen in the back of the house, the front porch light, and an outlet from my bedroom upstairs in back weren’t all on the same circuit, for example). There’s some excess switches, now, but you can control the lights from the room they’re in! There is no explanation for the switch in the crawlspace, which as best as we can tell, has never been wired for anything. However, it is a basement crawlspace so it’s creepy even before you factor in the bones my dad found down there, so we’re all content to try hard not to even think about it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/52 "2014-12-07T14:59:20Z")
My house was built back in the '30s, and the former owner was an amateur handy man. I could spend all day listing the strange things in the house. There are many fake receptacles throughout the house; ones that are completely devoid of wiring. But in the dining room is a receptacle that’s connected with regular lamp wire. It leads to the basement, where it just hangs uselessly from the ceiling. And then there’s the 5-way switch. It’s a 3-way switch, with either end containing a double switch, for no reason whatsoever. Off the living room was a patio, with three steps leading down to the lawn. When an enclosed patio was replacing the old stone one, one of the steps turned out to be a tomb stone. It was for a 10-year-old boy whose family was passing through on the way to California. The Historical Society verified the info on it, including his parents’ names. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/53 "2014-12-08T01:09:43Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Two posters have mentioned useless switches in their bathrooms. > > My guess: for an infrared light. There might have once been a combo infrared light/fan fixture. Each had its own switch. At some point it was replaced by just a fan. Ergo, one useless switch. (Or perhaps a former regular/infrared combo. Same deal.) This. I used to own a 70’s ranch house, and all the bathrooms had this setup - A combo light/fan/heat lamp fixture, with 3 switches to control it. If someone were to replace the fixture with a simple light/fan one, they’d end up with at least one wall switch that did nothing. > [@GaryM](#): > > Check your financial electrical box “Financial electrical” ? Hmm, I need to talk to my broker about getting some of this. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/54 "2014-12-08T02:25:46Z")
Damn autocorrect! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/55 "2014-12-08T02:29:44Z")
that why investments go poorly, blown fuses in the financial electrical box. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/56 "2014-12-08T21:35:08Z")
When we bought our house, originally built in the late 1950’s, there were very few overhead lights. Most of the house was lit by lamps attached to outlets controlled by wall switches. When I was installing a ceiling fan/light combo in the living room I went up into the attic to find a logical place to tap into for power. I spotted a cut wire dangling from the roof joist very near where I was placing the fan. Put my tester on it an found it was live. Traced it back to the box and found there was absolutely nothing on that circuit. My best guess from the location of the wire is that it originally went to attic vents with an electric, perhaps thermostat controlled, fan feature. Someone, sometime had done away with those and just left the cut wire hanging. I installed a junction box and wired the fan off the dangling wire. It’s still the only thing on that circuit. Other circuits make no sense as well. It was an adventure labling the electrical box - “some living room outlets and front bedroom”, “Kitchen outlets located high on wall”, “Kitchen outlets located low on wall”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/57 "2014-12-08T22:16:12Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Lastly, there’s [this contraption](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7546/15938320801_2cd184cb05_z.jpg) mounted to the hallway wall right under the smoke detector. What is it? I have no idea. > [@Smapti](#): > > Well, the doorbell it is, then. I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a house where the doorbell chime was that visible, but then I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a house quite this old (according to a local real estate agent’s website it was built in 1954, and from Googling it the bell was probably installed when the house was new.) My house was built in 1956 and has a built in doorbell. I wish it was as fancy as that, but it’s only a brass grate mounted on the wall above the front door with all the doorbell innards inside it. It will work occasionally if you hit the button enough times. I think that means I just need a new button or maybe the innards need to be cleaned. I’d like to get one that resembles the original, but I doubt I ever will. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174/58 "2014-12-08T23:41:29Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > My house was built in 1956 and has a built in doorbell. I wish it was as fancy as that, but it’s only a brass grate mounted on the wall above the front door with all the doorbell innards inside it. It will work occasionally if you hit the button enough times. I think that means I just need a new button or maybe the innards need to be cleaned. I’d like to get one that resembles the original, but I doubt I ever will. first open the button and chime, clean the wires and screws. the button contacts can also be cleaned up with sandpaper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-switches-gizmos-doors-and-wiring/706174.md?page=2)