Illuminated Switches

JAS

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
1,303
Location
Rosemount
I am giving some thought to installing some illuminated switches in my house. For anybody here that has done that, how do you like them? Do you have any suggestions on brand or is one brand pretty much like another brand?
 

HotWire

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
I installed illuminated switches in all of the rooms in my house about 25 years ago. They are all still working. I find them convenient even though I usually have a small flashlight in hand for night time navigation around the house. Don't remember the brand. They were a nice, simple addition to the house....
 

BB

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
2,129
Location
SF Bay Area
One of problem I had years ago... The neon lighted switch would charge up a U tube florescent ballast and cause the U tube to blink every few seconds.

My suggestion is to get just one switch and one lamp of choice and test the combination first, then buy more if you are happy.

Bill
 

GaryM

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
194
Location
Warrenton, MO
I've read on other forums that many, but not all, lighted switches don't play well with LED lamps. They pass just enough current to cause LEDs to blink or otherwise misbehave.
 

frank70

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
69
To prevent this from happening, any lighted switch you select should have 3 leads or screws: line, load, and neutral. Having the neutral avoids having to pass (a small) current through the load to get to the neutral. Downside is that not every switch box will have a neutral available; I've needed to wire a neutral to several boxes so I could utilize X10 Pro switches which require the neutral.
 

JAS

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
1,303
Location
Rosemount
To prevent this from happening, any lighted switch you select should have 3 leads or screws: line, load, and neutral...

That is interesting. Thank you very much for that tip. I just added six USB outlets to my house and they all had 3 leads, so I was anticipating that the switches would, too. I guess I will know soon enough when I go to install some!
 

GaryM

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
194
Location
Warrenton, MO
To prevent this from happening, any lighted switch you select should have 3 leads or screws: line, load, and neutral. Having the neutral avoids having to pass (a small) current through the load to get to the neutral. Downside is that not every switch box will have a neutral available; I've needed to wire a neutral to several boxes so I could utilize X10 Pro switches which require the neutral.
Yeah, that was it! Thanks for the reminder.
 

frank70

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
69
Safety first!

That is interesting. Thank you very much for that tip. I just added six USB outlets to my house and they all had 3 leads, so I was anticipating that the switches would, too. I guess I will know soon enough when I go to install some!
Just to clarify for your safety, when I mentioned "line", "load", and "neutral", that in no way involves the "ground" wire (the bare wire). That is a 4th wire that should NEVER be used to carry current and should ONLY be connected to the box (if metal) and the ground screw of an outlet. If you have a switch that requires neutral (as the X10 Pro switches do), do NOT connect the ground wire in the box to that wire or screw! That must be connected to a true neutral (which may or may not be present in the switch box as a pair of white wires connected with a wire nut.) If you don't know exactly what you're doing, have an electrician install any such switch.

And if I were you, I'd go back and check those six outlets you installed to make sure that you connected them correctly; the white (neutral) wire must go to the side with the silver colored screws and taller prong. Or you can buy an inexpensive plug-in device to check to make sure an outlet is wired correctly.
 
Top