Hot cover on wall switch?

[Gypsy Moth]

When I have turned off the kitchen light at the wall switch, I have noticed that the cover is very hot. Is this normal?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, No. Is it luke warm or hot to touch? Maybe wires loose on the switch or it's too old, worn out. Take a look.

[Anonymous]

If you have a dimmer switch, possible.

[beecrofter]

Potential fire hazard, leave it off until you ascertain the cause.

[Joseph Meehan]

If it is not a dimmer switch, you have a problem and it should be investigated. It could be a fire hazard.

[RBM]

Perfectly normal ONLY if it's a dimmer. The higher the wattage, the hotter the dimmer. If it's a metal switch plate it'll be more noticeable than with a plastic plate

[RickH]

It sounds like your dimmer is running hot, you can cheaply increase the wattage rating of a dimmer just by replacing the plastic wall plate with an aluminum wall plate, that will act as a good heat sink, (but still doesn't mean you should exceed the max rating of the dimmer). Plastic wall plates really stress dimmers that are running above 70 percent of their rating. Or put a 1000watt dimmer on a 3 bulb fixture and it will run real cool if you're worried, maybe the builder installed one rated too low for the bulb watts you have.

[Arthur Shapiro]

By any chance are we talking an aluminum-wired house? This is typical symptomology of an impending failure, aka fire hazard.

Art

[alvinamorey]

Since you said SWITCH, this is a very dangerous fire hazzard. I'd disable the breaker for that switch till you find the cause, or work on it NOW. Switches dont get hot, not even warm, unless there is a fault. If however it's a dimmer, they normally get warm (not HOT). What is it?

Either way, open the box and tighten all the screws (with power OFF). Also look for broken wires and burn marks on the switch. Replace if necessary. In fact, if it's just a common switch, spend the $2 and replace it.

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