To switch or not to switch, that is the question.

May 21, 2010 12:36 PM

How do you turn most of your lamps on and off: from the wall switch or on the lamp itself?

I am trying to decide if the lamps that I built need a switch. The lamps are designed to be ambient lighting as opposed to task lighting. The switches would be located in-line on the cord. Picture of the lamps.

posted by woodjockey to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Those are nice lamps. We only have switched outlets in two new bedrooms we built in an addition. In line switches for these lamps would be a good idea.
posted by fixedgear at 12:43 PM on May 21, 2010

Switch on the lamp itself, definitely. Not all houses have wiring to an outlet from a wall switch, which means that if the lamp didn't have a switch, then the user would have to plug and unplug it to turn it on and off. Ridiculous.


Gorgeous lamps! Is that your own design?
posted by wwartorff at 12:43 PM on May 21, 2010

In the house where I grew up, we didn't have any wall switches wired to outlets. Now I live in an apartment with several. Definitely add switches to the lamps.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:46 PM on May 21, 2010

Another vote for switch. Those with wall switches can just leave the lamp switch on all the time, and those without will be able to switch without unplugging.
posted by sanko at 12:47 PM on May 21, 2010

I try to use the wall switch whenever possible, except for lamps next to the bed.
posted by tckma at 12:54 PM on May 21, 2010

Beautiful lamps! I have a couple of lamps on timers that come on at dusk and turn themselves off an hour or so after bedtime, so you could do that, if you are really opposed to switches on the lamps. I also do that because my old house doesn't have outlets tied to the switches.
posted by sarajane at 12:56 PM on May 21, 2010

Definitely put a switch on the cord (if not the lamp itself) I hate cord switches from a practical standpoint (because they're difficult to reach) but understand them from an aesthetic point. I tend to use my cord switch lamps on switched outlets so that I can just leave them in the on position and control them from the wall switch. But, on those occasions that I'm sitting in the chair next to them and am too lazy to get up and walk across the room, I can just reach down and turn them off using the cord switch. Also, those are very cool lamps.
posted by victoriab at 12:59 PM on May 21, 2010

I think in the ... let's see here ... 10? 12? different houses in which I've lived in various parts of the United States I have once had a wall switch which controls an outlet.

If I found a lamp that didn't have a switch on it somewhere I would be frustrated, especially if I had already purchased it.
posted by komara at 1:06 PM on May 21, 2010

I have something like this attached to my bedside lamp that I quite like. Having it attached to the lamp but not exactly in-line with the cord makes it very easy to put wherever I need it depending on how I have things arranged.
posted by SugarAndSass at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Our house was wired by crack monkeys. Therefore, the outlets that are controlled by the wall on/off switches in the rooms rarely coincide with the wall where we would have lamps. If the lamp didn't have a switch, we wouldn't be able to buy it. (Although our favorite bedroom lamps are touch lamps so we don't have to find the switch.
posted by Kimberly at 1:40 PM on May 21, 2010

I never lived in a house where the wall outlets were connected to lightswitches until I moved into my newish apartment. Now that I do, I love it -- but not all outlets are tied to a switch, which is good for computers and stuff. My other homes were fairly old and I don't think they had ever been re-wired or anything since they were built (except to keep them up to code, I imagine).

That said, your lamps need switches. Not all homes have light switches that are attached to outlets, especially older homes -- where I think your lamps would look quite beautiful, with original woodwork, etc.

Gorgeous lamps, by the way.
posted by k8lin at 1:48 PM on May 21, 2010

If you don't want switches don't put them in. Inline switches are easy enough to retrofit if you move somewhere that doesn't have (convenient) wall switches.
posted by 6550 at 2:33 PM on May 21, 2010

I totally use The Clapper on my bedroom lamp. =)

That said, I usually use the switch on the lamp. And I agree with komara above, NOT having a switch would certainly irritate me.
posted by maryr at 2:36 PM on May 21, 2010

Best answer: I have switches on all my wall outlets but I also have furniture everywhere so they aren't easily accessible. Plus some things get run through multiplug boards which don't have individual switches. So I rarely turn stuff off at the wall.

If you're selling your lamps then definitely add switches, you're limiting your market a lot if you don't (and they are nice lamps, don't prevent people from being able to buy them!). If you decide not to in the end then please make that clear when you're selling them because it would never occur to me that a lamp would come without a switch somewhere.
posted by shelleycat at 3:20 PM on May 21, 2010

The lamps are beautiful. They also need switches. Wall outlets are only wired to wall switches in one of the places I have lived.
posted by vortex genie 2 at 6:16 PM on May 21, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for the wonderful comments everyone! I will be installing switches tomorrow.
posted by woodjockey at 3:54 AM on May 23, 2010