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The Mystery Switch

  I've Been to many homes for just about every possiblility of problems.  One thing I find very common is when I ask "what does this switch do?" and the reply I get is "I don't know, that switch has never worked!"  The 2 most common places people have switches that don't seem to do anything are as Follows:

  • Beside the gas fireplace. 
  • The living room (or any room without an overhead light) 

  Below we will discuss these 2 variables further.

 

The Fireplace

  First we will start with the Fireplace.  When we wire a gas fireplace, we always wire for 2 switches.  1 switch controls the ignitor, turning the fireplace on and off.  The second switch is a power switch controlling an outlet in the bottom of the fireplace.  The reason we wire this outlet is for the optional fan that can be mounted in the bottom of the fireplace.  Every fireplace I have seen comes with this option, and 85% of builders opt out of having it installed.  These fans will push air through and out of the fireplace, heating up the room as a furnace would. 

  Alot of people who live in condo's I've worked in would only use the fireplace to heat the house and never need to turn on the electric wall heaters.

 

 

The Living Room

  If your mystery switch is by the front door in the living room or the switch is in a bedroom with no overhead light,  then your problem is usually nothing more than a simple installation error.  This is nothing to be alarmed about.  I've seen it in brand new homes and in homes that are 30 years old.  A mistake that can be made by novices and experts alike.  The mistake is simply the fact that the person who instaled the receptacles in your home Forgot to Break a tab on the receptacle.  

 

(This Picture Shows the typical location of the Tabs I'm Refering to.)

 

  Many spec. homes have switched outlets installed in living rooms and master bedrooms.  This is where the switch controls one half of 1 or 2 receptacles in the room.  In order to make this possible, there is a tab in the middle of the receptacle on the right hand side (when looking from the front).  This tab feeds power from the Upper half to the lower half of the receptacle.  When the tab is broken the live (Hot) side is seperated.  (Refer to image above)

 

  When wired correctly, normal (uninterupted) power is wired to the upper half and the wire coming from the switch is feeding the lower half like the example below or vise versa.  When The tab isn't broken the switch simply doesn't work and if tested the switch will normally show power on both sides of the switch (while in the off position). 

   

(Black wires above are power in & out, red is wire from switch, ground and nuetrals are unchanged.)

  This is how I would wire a switched receptacle in an Ideal situation, this is not necessarily how your wiring will look.  The princible would be the same, however depending on the age of the wiring and who wired it, the method and wire colors may vary.

  When looking for the receptacle that would be controlled by a switch, start by looking at the color of the wires attached to the switch.  If the switch has two black wires then this won't help you. 

  •  If it has a white and a black wire, then you need to find a white wire in one of your outlet boxes that is wired in with black wires under a wirenut.  This would more than likely be the receptacle you are looking for.   
  • If you have a red wire connected to your switch then there is a good chance your receptacle is wired like the one above.
  • If neither of these is the cause look for an outlet box that has a different configuration of wires than all the rest. 
  • The rest is more or less based on experience and knowing what to look for. 

 

 

1 Last Possiblity

  If the 2 situations above don't apply to you than my last option may be the case.  Every house is different and each has its own unique possibility of mistakes or changes.  Sometimes during a remodel, small personal change or repair job we have to change around wiring or switching.  There are times where we are left with a box that maybe started with 2 switches and the customer wanted to turn everything on with one or something like that.  When this happens, it looks better in my opinion to install a switch that does nothing, than to install a switch blank.  Switch blanks are out of the norm and stand out where another switch on the wall blends in with the others.  Again, this may not apply to your situation.  However it is fairly common in the trade for us to do this. 

Good luck and never take on more than you are comfortable with.  When in doubt, call an electrician. 

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