The most common electrical devices in a home are receptacles and switches.
This article is about home switches.
Herein after
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.
HOME SWITCH DEVICE ELECTRICAL DESIGN
A 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.
3-way switches
Shall be wired with not less than 3-wire with ground cable (or 4 wires in sum) or a 3-wire with ground insulated conductor harness (or 4 wires in sum) wherewith
There are not less than 2 phased conductors, 1 grounded conductor (a/k/a neutral, common, “white wire") and 1 grounding conductor
Which conductors (a/k/a legs) shall run on that 3-way circuit or branch into
All switch boxes
All junction boxes and
All other outlets
A switch
Controlling a garbage disposal shall be within not less than 18 linear inches from any other switch
Controlling 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.
Only a circuit breaker designated to be double-tapped shall be so applied
Comment: This double-tapping reference includes a smoke alarm circuit, if dedicated. Land it separately, label it separately.
In residential, electric heater applications, e.g., heat tapes, bathroom installations, consider protecting the circuit (always dedicated) with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter 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.
A smoke alarm shall not disconnect by wall switch, i.e., if branch-wired, the alarm branch shall be before any switch
Bathroom exhaust fan shall be controlled by a timer switch
Attic and crawlspace lighting shall be have among others, as needed, one pilot light switch interior to the residence
Switches
Shall be 36-42 linear inches on-center above finish floor level
Shall be sited within 12 linear inches of
A passage and open floor
That open floor
Shall be unobstructed as to both physical and visual access
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.
As physically unobstructed motion sensors shall be your friends, particularly in complex intersections of traffic
A switch
Shall be pressure-controlled, particularly in wall switch access-limited spaces, as in smaller closets
Shall 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]
Shall be lighted between Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Kitchen and major passages to the exterior
Shall be arranged such that
Each lighted space, including a hallway, shall be controlled on the same (multi-way) branch either within or outside each passage
Each lighted space, including a hallway, shall be controlled on its interior at each passage
For 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
Shall be controlled on a single branch
Shall be controlled without benefit of a dimmer switch
In 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
Interior steps numbering 2 or more risers
Shall 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
Where entrance to the steps or stairs can be from more than one pathway or portal at head or foot or
Where entrance to the steps is in a landing or landings in the interim rise from foot to head
Exterior steps numbering 3 or more risers
Shall have luminaires tasked specifically to those steps, especially at
Foot landing
Mid-landing and
Head landing
Shall 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
Lighted (a/k/a pilot) switch shall be in
A bathroom at entry and
Bedroom-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.
A switched receptacle
Shall not be greater than a single receptacle outlet, i.e., no split receptacles, or
Shall be both sides of a duplex receptacle or
Shall be all 3 sides of a triplex receptacle set up or
Shall be all 4 sides of a quadraplex receptacle set up
That is, shall be to all receptacles in a given outlet
Each switch box for a ceiling fan or a ceiling fan with light pack shall contain
Not less than 2 phase conductors
Not less than 1 neutral conductor and
Not less than 1 grounding conductor, i.e., not less than a 3-wire with ground cable or harness (or 4 wires in sum)
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