Switches

Home Up Wiring Plans Circuit Designing Receptacles Switches

BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – HOME DESIGNING BACKGROUND – UNIQUE HOME

 DESIGN ARTICLES

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HOME ELECTRICAL DESIGN, SWITCHES

A GUIDE TO HELP AVOID HOME ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS

By Before The Architect  Copyright 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009 Before The Architect

YOU MAY FREELY QUOTE THE AG WITH PROPER ATTRIBUTION

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INTRODUCTION

The most common electrical devices in a home are electrical switches and receptacles. 

This e-article is about home switches. 

You’ll come across home electrical design guidance which

---Exceeds codified prescripts or

---Addresses aspects of house receptacle design and installation

------About which common codes are moot or

------Common practice is known by this designer to be lax 

An abundance of safety and convenience and durability – that’s the storyline – intended to help avoid home electrical problems.

 

HOME SWITCH DEVICE ELECTRICAL DESIGNING
bulletA panelboard shall physically include within it an overcurrent protection rated at the amperage rating of the panelboard it protects 

Comment:  This is so you can disconnect all supply in one sell fwoop inside the home. 

bullet3-way switches
bulletShall be wired with not less than 3-wire with ground cable (or 4 wires in sum) or a 3-wire with ground insulated electrical conductor harness (or 4 wires in sum) wherewith
bulletThere are not less than 2 phased electrical conductors, 1 grounded electrical conductor (a/k/a neutral, common, “white wire") and 1 grounding electrical conductor
bulletWhich electrical conductors (a/k/a legs) shall run on that 3-way electrical circuit or branch into all switch boxes, all junction boxes, and all other outlets
bulletA switch
bulletControlling a garbage disposal shall be within not less than 18 linear inches from any other switch
bulletControlling a dishwasher shall be within not less than 12 linear inches from any other switch 

Comment:  This home designer has been told outright that he’s an old fuddy-duddy in making this last entry – that times and technology no longer require such safety-sensitive steps.  Let’s hear it for old fuddy-duddies.  

bulletOnly a electrical circuit breaker designated to be double-tapped shall be so applied 

Comment:  This double-tapping reference includes a smoke alarm electrical circuit, if dedicated.  Land it separately, label it separately. 

bulletIn home, electric heater applications, e.g., heat tapes, bathroom installations, consider protecting the electrical circuit (always dedicated) with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter electrical circuit breaker rated at 30 mA (a/k/a milliamps) to avoid casual, or nuisance, tripping 

Comment:  This suggested application is in lieu of the common 5 mA trigger level, because smaller heaters can be expected to throw off, or leak, up to 10 mA in normal operation.  

bulletA smoke alarm shall not disconnect by wall switch, i.e., if branch-wired, the alarm branch shall be before any switch 
bulletBathroom exhaust fan shall be controlled by a timer switch 
bulletAttic and crawlspace lighting shall be have among others, as needed, one pilot light switch interior to the residence 
bulletSwitches shall be 36-42 linear inches on-center above finish floor level
bulletSwitches shall be sited within 12 linear inches of
bulletA passage and open floor, which open floor 
bulletShall be unobstructed as to both physical and visual access
bulletShall be within not less than 32 linear inches in not less than a radial quadrant  

Comment:  This standard takes the cloudiness out of the omnibus reference to switches being ‘generally accessible.’ 

Comment:  Please consider that physically unobstructed motion sensors shall be your friends, particularly in complex intersections of traffic

bulletA switch
bulletShall be pressure-controlled, particularly in wall switch access-limited spaces, as in smaller closets
bulletShall be dimmers wherever possible, noting Lutron owns multiple-way switch dimming in this designer’s opinion, including but not limited to 4-way dimming involving every device in the gang [and noting also that the designer does not fully appreciate rocker switches with the itsy-bitsy rheostatic slide control]
bulletShall be lighted between Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Kitchen and major passages to the exterior
bulletShall be arranged such that
bulletEach lighted space, including a hallway, shall be controlled on the same (multi-way) branch either within or outside each passage
bulletEach lighted space, including a hallway, shall be controlled on its interior at each passage 
bulletFor strictly utility areas, e.g., laundry, butler’s pantry, etc., and, particularly, utility areas with hazard potential, e.g., workshop, such area’s illumination, each area 
bulletShall be controlled on a single branch
bulletShall be controlled without benefit of a dimmer switch 
bulletIn a room with a door lock, bolt, latch, or similar of any sort, a lighting switch control for at least 1 lighting fixture rated 120V in that room shall be placed on the locked, or interior, side of passage 
bulletInterior steps numbering 2 or more risers
bulletShall have 3-way or 4-way lighting switch control at the foot and head and perhaps more for those tasked luminaires as a group, notably among others
bulletWhere entrance to the steps or stairs can be from more than one pathway or portal at head or foot or
bulletWhere entrance to the steps is in a landing or landings in the interim rise from foot to head
bulletExterior steps numbering 3 or more risers
bulletShall have luminaires tasked specifically to those steps, especially at 
bulletFoot landing
bulletMid-landing and
bulletHead landing
bulletShall have 3-way or 4-way lighting switch control over all those tasked luminaires as a group at not less than each interior to a passage proximate to and accessible to those steps 
bulletLighted (a/k/a pilot) switch shall be in
bulletA bathroom at entry and 
bulletBedroom-kitchen passage(s) 

Comment:  Lighted switches may be applied elsewhere for safety and convenience, e.g., in pathway between Masters Bed area and children's bed area(s), stair head, exterior doors, etc.

bulletA switched receptacle
bulletShall not be greater than a single receptacle outlet, i.e., no split receptacles, or
bulletShall be both sides of a duplex receptacle or
bulletShall be all 3 sides of a triplex receptacle set up or
bulletShall be all 4 sides of a quadraplex receptacle set up 
bulletThat is, shall be to all receptacles in a given outlet 
bulletEach switch box for a ceiling fan or a ceiling fan with light pack shall contain
bulletNot less than 2 phase electrical conductors
bulletNot less than 1 neutral electrical conductor and
bulletNot less than 1 grounding electrical conductor, i.e., not less than a 3-wire with ground cable or harness (or 4 wires in sum)

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