Why....

[Tim+]

...do light switches go down for on (in the UK) but circuit breakers go up?

If there's a compelling logic, why isn't it the same all round the world?

Tim

[Richard]

Don't know, but there must be a good reason.

You could always install the light switches upside down to have uniformity in your home though. ;)

[bill.shitner]

For circuit breakers, I would have thought that up for on is marginally safer (less likely to be inadvertently turned on as a consequence of gravity, when something is dropped and knocks the switch). For light switches, the previously referred to safety consideration is less of an issue, so it boils down to convenience (groping in the dark, it's generally an easier motion to sweep your hand down a surface to actuate a switch, rather than up)

Bill.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Switches have to be up one way or another. Intermediates can be either of course.

Sometimes what is important is uniformity, not absolute position. Like driving on the left.

[Andy Bennet]

You will also need to turn all your switched 13A sockets up the other way as well. Interesting that cars throughout the world have push buttons with an LED for on/off type applications.

[Chris Hogg]

And then there are two- and three-way switches, and when the light bulb blows you never know whether the circuit is live or not.

[Chris J Dixon]

Whilst in the home an increasing proportion of electrical equipment has a red LED illuminated when the kit is off.

Chris

[Roger Hayter]

Cars used to have rocker switches, and ISTR that down was usually on in cars in this country.

[alan_m]

It probably also follows a convention before modern flat switch activators and light switches were toggle style. Easier to switch down in the dark?

[alan_m]

Er, all of my electrical equipment only has any form of illumination when the kit is actually on.

What I have observed recently is some manufactures have started to realise that eye burning laser LEDS are not required to indicate the powered state of the equipment and have drastically toned down the brightness to a dull glow.

[John Rumm]

ISTR an era when toggle switches were often seen (and down for on as well)

[Andy Burns]

Then ultra-long toggle switches ...

[Chris J Dixon]

TV, sound bar woofer, digital radio tuner all show red when off.

The most pointless is the Humax PVR. The Illumination changes from red to blue when you turn it on, unless it is recording, when the red glow becomes slightly brighter. This means that if you come to it you never really know what state it is in.

Chris

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Well something I've always wondered about as well. I've heard many explanations, but in the end it seems its a mixture of different national practices, and little else. Brian

[The Natural Philosopher]

Didn't use to. Can remember toggle switches all over my MGs

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Or fit push button ones. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Or fit push button ones. Brian

[Chris J Dixon]

Yes, you could even get long ones, supposedly to make them easier to reach, or Paddy Hopkirk ones with (slightly) radioactive glow tubes on their ends so you could find them at night.

I wonder how many ended up embedded in the occupants after a crash?

Chris

[The Natural Philosopher]

Direction indicators headlamps and windscreen stuff?

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

But most of my switches are rocker types, not the old bakelite toggles traditionally seen in pre war housing. Thus moving down is not the action its more of a press at the bottom. Likewise with circuit breakers, surely if these were recessed with a cover it would be almost impossible to operate them accidentally. The very first circuit breaker we found here on the mains input was a huge great handle that moved through 180 degrees and no way could you knock it either way as it rested in line with the box in either position.

Brian