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Author Topic: light switch orientation Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-28-2015 06:54 AM                        This is probably a dumb question, but I have never seen a good explanation of it. In the US, light switches are normally installed like this such that the "up" position of the switch turns the light on. In the picture above, both switches are in the "on" position. In the UK and possibly elsewhere, switches are normally installed so that the "down" position turns the light on: In the picture above, the switch is also in the "on" position. Why is this? It doesn't matter so much that "up" or "down" should indicate "on" or "off," but why are there differing standards for this? Are there any electricians here who can explain this? And is "up"="on" a code issue in the US, or is it just common practice? Most (non-3-way) US switches have "OFF" and "ON" printed above and below the lever, respectively, so these labels would be upside-down if the switch were installed the other way, so maybe that explains the US orientation. None of this is really a big deal for light switches, but I could imagine that a switch in a non-standard orientation could be dangerous if it controlled a power tool or some other motorized device.  |  IP: Logged Steve Moore Expert Film Handler Posts: 211 From: Leeds, West Yorks, UK Registered: Apr 2008 posted 08-28-2015 09:17 AM                     Another way of looking at it is that they are "stuck out" at the top in both the US and UK for on? Though having said that, I do have to say that when I go to the US that they feel to me that they are upside down compared to ours!  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 08-28-2015 09:28 AM                    Well, isn't there an association with something being "up" meaning on? Is your server UP?  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-28-2015 09:38 AM                     Sorry to burst you bubble Steve (interesting that 3/4 of the posters on this subject, thus far, are named Steve too)... In the US, "Decora" switches, a rocker switch, pressing in on the top is "on." So the bottom stuck out would be on. With conventional round-hole toggle switches, the slot goes on the bottom. If you get a plate for that switch that has the labels on/off...it will presume the slot is on the bottom for it to read properly. On will be up. It wouldn't surprise me if the rational for the difference in the light switch is along the lines of why the UK drives on the wrong side of the road too.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 08-28-2015 10:21 AM                     I read somewhere that the US practice of up for on and down for off came from safety with big industrial switches. Supposedly, if you leaned against the switch and accidentally switched it, you'd accidentally turn something off instead of on. I guess to pull those up takes force and intent where if it is up and you take a rest against the wall you could push it down. Who knows if true but there is some logic there. Of course with a 3-way (or greater) circuit, there is no standard on (or off) position.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-28-2015 11:22 AM                     Whoever provides a reasonable answer to this should also tackle this one.  |  IP: Logged Gordon Bachlund Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 696 From: Monrovia, CA, USA Registered: Aug 1999 posted 08-28-2015 11:48 AM                        With the ground pin up, if a plug is loosened there is a possibility of the ground pin disconnecting first, thereby leaving the load ungrounded, if only momentarily, until the other pins disconnect. With the ground pin down, if a plug is loosened, the ground pin will be the last to disconnect, a safe practice.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-28-2015 12:09 PM                        quote: Steve Guttag It wouldn't surprise me if the rational for the difference in the light switch is along the lines of why the UK drives on the wrong side of the road too. The latter was an Empire/Commonwealth thing, which is why India and Australia also drive on the left (steering wheel on the right side of the car). I believe that Canada once did, but switched, to make cross-border traffic easier. AFAIK, the only major country that drives on the left but never had any significant political or economic ties to the UK is Japan. The light switch thing confused me for months after emigrating from the UK to the US; driving much less so, because you're doing it along with everyone else and so driving on the right just comes naturally. But if you're operating a toggle switch in a room on your own, there isn't any "peer pressure" to help you do it right! I can't for the life me remember what other European countries do for light switches. When I was UK-based I visited France, The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark several times, but simply don't remember anything about their light switches. I'm guessing that they're the same as Britain's (up = off / down = on), because if they were the opposite, I think that would have stuck in my mind.  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Weigel Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1062 From: Edmond, OK, USA Registered: Mar 2007 posted 08-28-2015 12:55 PM                     How about 3-way switched circuits? If the switches are all installed to expose "on" in the up position, then one of those switches will have to be installed upside down.  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-28-2015 01:08 PM                     They all should have a " top " indication on one side showing the direction it should be installed in. In a three-way switch situation, one side is always going to be " wrong side on ".  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 08-28-2015 01:50 PM                     Up = On. How many of you guys pulled dimmer handles down to raise the lights? Zero I suppose. There really isn't any specific code relating to outlet orientation.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 08-28-2015 02:06 PM                        For what it's worth, we have the same issue in airline flying. If you fly Boeing big iron, you are used to "up = on", If you fly McDonnell Douglas big iron, you are used to "down = on". Don't remember how Lockheed, Convair, Fairchild/Fokker, Martin, or any of the Canadians, Brits, EU, Brazilians, Russians, Kiwi/Oz, and Asians configured theirs...  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 08-28-2015 02:37 PM                     Just curious, does this UP/DOWN issue extend to electronic equipment with toggle switches?  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 08-28-2015 03:44 PM                     quote: Jeremy Weigel How about 3-way switched circuits? If the switches are all installed to expose "on" in the up position, then one of those switches will have to be installed upside down. With a 3 way (or more) circuit "on" and "off" positions don't exist for any switch. A change in position of any switch will change the state of the circuit. The upside down outlet I will never understand.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 08-28-2015 03:50 PM                        Turn the lights UP, turn the lights DOWN. If you think of it this way than up/down becomes intuitive. I don't know if this is the reasoning, but it seems logical to me.  |  IP: Logged

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