The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type. ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so I'm looking for a safer solution. Idealy I'd put a pull switch on the ceiling, but access from above is a little tricky. I could chase the cable up the wall, or put it outside the door, but a simple solution would be to replace the current switch with a waterproof one.
Any suggestions for an appropriate device, and would it satisfy building regs anyway?
I think you're being over-cautious. It's not a *bath* or a shower in there, just a bog and basin. People using it aren't likely to present a lower-resistance path to earth than usual, or even have particularly wet hands when operating that switch, unless you get up to more interesting stuff in the downstairs loo than most of us ;-)
If you want to fuss, there are cheapie "outdoor" switches available from Screwfix and the sheds which have a transparent cover over the switching element, and don't cost an arm and a leg. (Unlike the MK outdoor switches, which are more seriously rainproof but weigh in at 15 quid or so!). Or for a touch of Coronation Street sophistication, along with the three ducks on the wall, you could put a touch-operated dimmer in; or just a large-plate rocker switch (some designs have effectively the whole of the plate area as the rocker), so that the already remote chance of drips-from-fingers causing a tingle is further reduced.
Oh, and do make sure the cable to the switch has an earth, and measure
- if poss - that it really is connected to the house earth; and that the back box (if you have a metal one) is connected to said earth. That's a more significant - but still small - risk than the one you seem to be concerned about.
Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light switch in this situation. If you insist on using a waterproof type (i.e. it is an outside toilet with an ill-fitting door) then consider something like Screwfix item 16450.
Reminds me of the time I came home and my wife and two daughters were in the downstairs cloakroom, fascinated by the fact that they were getting a belt from the light switch. A standard plastic rocker switch. "look Dad. Touch the switch and it makes you jump. It's even worse if you reach over and touch the tap on the basin at the same time". That can't be I said. The switch is made of plastic and can't give you a shock. So I tried it. Bugger me a proper belt off a plastic switch. (Not a static shock) I even got a meter out and measured between the plastic rocker switch and the tap. 240V.
Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live onto the rocker.
-- Alan G "The corporate life [of society] must be subservient to the lives of the parts instead of the lives of the parts being subservient to the corporate life." (Herbert Spencer)
When I rewired my parents' kitchen, I made the lights over the sink/drainer switched by a pullcord, on the basis that you are quite likely to have wet hands when operating it.
My wife was the problem on this one. The result was the same as your condensation. I found out that when she cleaned the room she was wiping the light switch with a wet cloth. The water was collecting inside the switch and as you said resulting in tracking to live. When you operated the switch, a film a water was wiped out on the under side of the switch and connected your finger to llive.
-- Alan G "The corporate life [of society] must be subservient to the lives of the parts instead of the lives of the parts being subservient to the corporate life." (Herbert Spencer)
We were getting it from condensation from the hot air coming fromt he kitchen condensing on the east corner walls of the house. The condensation was dripping at times. Lot of years ago though before foam insulation. I put a better ventilator in the toilet which seemed to alleviate the problem.
-- Alan G "The corporate life [of society] must be subservient to the lives of the parts instead of the lives of the parts being subservient to the corporate life." (Herbert Spencer)
A similar situation occurred in my niece's house. Switch on the light in the hall and you got a shock through the fingers from the switch. OK, she had painted the switch in gold paint, but checking the paint and the switch surface all proved no conductivity. After changing the light switch, there was no further problem. Maybe it was just a bit of damp/dirt that let the shock through when the switch changed over, who knows?
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