QUIET ceiling switch?

What I don't understand is: In decades long past, ceiling switches all worked with a discreet click. We have an old switch in one of the bedrooms and no-one would complain about it being noisy. But all modern switches have a loud twang. Why the change?

On Mon, 7 Feb 2005 16:07:13 +0000, Mike Barnes strung together this:

They've not changed, in the olden days some were noisy, some weren't, just like todays range of switches.

Personally, I reckon that they're made to do the job, to the electrical specs, as cheaply as possible. Sound doesn't seem to be on the agenda. Is it just me or is it such a NOISY world now.

You can use an ordinary switch in Zone 3 - i.e. more than 600mm from the nearest edge of the bath or shower tray. Switchgear closer to the bath than that needs to be SELV, not exceeding a nominal 12 V AC (or 30V DC).

I suspect it's ceilings that have changed, not switches. Plasterboard makes a good resonant sounding board whilst inch-thick lath and plaster has more mass and more damping, and hence has much more sound deadening effect.

The switches are usually rated 6A mains, although they are probably run on 12V or 24V systems. They come with red pull cords long enough to reach the floor (so you can still pull them if you're on the floor). Often have a red triangle rather than the more normal acorn, and sometimes two (for one at normal height, one at near floor level). You can swap for a more normal pull cord though.

What about using an occupancy sensor rather than a switch?

I just went upstairs and unscrewed the cover of my 20-plus year old MK which makes a fairly loud noise. I had assumed it was the cylindrical housing that was resonating, but it turns out the switch is mounted on a quite minimal and rigid escutcheon and makes as much noise when operated in mid-air .

On the positive side the switch has operated faultlessly all 20 years I've been in the house ...

... maybe I could melt some pitch into the voids and make up a sorbothane washer ...... probably needs a diffused OUTER surface since it's high frequencies we're talking about .....

It was never a problem for me before and I had plans to use more than one in the kitchen, but I will be now become obsessed with designing an alternative !!

On 7 Feb 2005 19:06:44 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) strung together this:

Probably some of the older ones are but most that I've fitted\seen nowadays are 12V switches with a PCB inside with a surface mount PTM switch on them, generally made by C-Tech, looking remarkably like this lot, .

Many years ago, there was a range of near silent light switches, and advertised as such. IIRC, GEC 'Mutak' or similar?

Would make some aspects of wiring easy, because if the coils were low voltage you could use cable similar to phone stuff for the switch runs.

How's a bloke to pee in the dark if there's an occupancy sensor? :-)

It would have to be able to work with rafts of vapour from the bath when swmbo is in residence.

How about fitting a low energy bulb and just leaving it on all night?

Adam

Fair point. My unserious reply hid my preference for moving about in the twilight hours without suffering lights on, so for me an occupancy sensor is not the best solution (perhaps on a timeswitch, hmmm). I thought of replacing the ker-chunk I suffer with some hi-tech wave hand in front sensor (e.g. a beam break switch) but the only ones I dug up were high tech and high price.

Occupancy sensors would have the same problem in loos as they do in offices - people sit still for a while and plunge into the dark. Especially true if the loo is in a bathroom and the victim has a long soak. Not sure of the regs in such a situation of the lights going out suddenly?

switch ?

So what about the light switch for the bedroom next to the bathroom? It's just as likely that someone coming out of the bathroom with wet hands could get a belt from there.

MBQ

outside the

eek.

Try hanging a heavy cast aluminium light pull from the 'dangly bit of string' to make the newly refurbed bathroom look nice & finished off.

Cue my girlfriend shaking out a towel in there and getting the end caught up in the string, whipping the aforementioned light pull into just underneath her eye giving her a big shiner.

Pleased she was not :-0 !!

Cheers,

Paul.

I've lived with those on occasion - they're no problem, just wave to the light and it comes back on again. I imagine it isn't as annoying as it would be in an office (but I don't read in the loo), and there's less chance that you're sitting in a sensor blind spot.

I hadn't thought of that since my house isn't laid out that way, but I will now have to give some thought to making all the lights in my house operable with no risk of electric shock :-)

Maybe it's cos I'm about to hit 45 and I live alone, but since I'm completely overhauling my house, it seems foolish not to make it as safe as possible ....