ISO most durable residential manual dumb wall light switch

April 27, 2019 9:10 AM

That's pretty much it. More after jump.

My friend who is a realtor agrees that typical flat rocker switches are generally terrible, yet this is what is all over my abode. The rockers themselves over time slowly come away from the wall on either the top or bottom of the switch, sometimes resulting in failure of the switch to turn the light on. I thought maybe i just had defective ones when I moved in, but nope, even the replacements are doing it.

Guess I could get standard non-rocker switches? I don't want the automatic ones that turn on when you enter or leave a room. Ideally I'd like a rocker switch that doesn't suck, but i'm open to ideas.

Thank you, home improvementers of MeFi.

posted by bitterkitten to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Could you post a photo of a rocker that's come away from the wall to the point where it's nearly inoperable? I'm having trouble understanding the failure mode here.
posted by flabdablet at 9:49 AM on April 27, 2019 [5 favorites]

The large US-style rocker switches and the small lever-operated kind are both quite rare in Australia; far more commonly seen are these fingertip-operated rockers, and they're very reliable. Australian light switches are all rated to break 10 amps at 240 volts, so they should be more than adequate for the rather anaemic 110V lighting circuits found in the US.
posted by flabdablet at 9:57 AM on April 27, 2019

I have Clipsal standard switches throughout my house, most of which were installed in a rewire done in the 1970s and all of which work just fine.
posted by flabdablet at 10:14 AM on April 27, 2019

Yes, the old style switches can just be dropped in where your Decora switches are now, all you need is the switches and new switch plates. The no-extra-features switch comes in two flavors: regular and heavy-duty. The heavy-duty ones are too strong for where I have them and so they're annoying and I switched back, but depending on the activities that break Decoras you might try them out.
posted by rhizome at 10:16 AM on April 27, 2019

Here in the states, I regularly see the old push button style switches working fine after 80-100 yrs of operation. Modern versions are readily available.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:32 AM on April 27, 2019 [2 favorites]

most wall switches and outlets come in multiple grades. Leviton grades these as "standard" "preferred" and "professional". The Leviton Decora line of rocker style switches like yours come in residential and commercial grade. You get what you pay for "residential and "standard" grades are cheap crap that will break in a few years. If you are replacing switches, consider getting higher quality nylon wall plates as well.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:21 AM on April 27, 2019 [3 favorites]

I too am having difficulty figuring out the failure mode of those rocker switches you are describing. They should last decades. You say you have replaced some and they failed as well. Can you post the exact make and model of switch you are using?
posted by JackFlash at 12:05 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

Assuming that you're in the US or Canada, I would caution against installing any European switches. They will not have UL approval for use in the US which would both violate local building codes and leave you wide open to your insurance denying a claim should the worst happen. While Euro lighting circuits are capable of supporting higher wattage, in the case of a non dimmer switch, the current rating of the switch is really the only criteria which matters. Our lighting circuits are 15 amp, you don't want to be installing a 10A switch on a circuit with 15A circuit breakers. (Yes, it's unlikely that you have a lighting load which draws over 10 amps, but it's just bad practice. Also, we sometimes use wall switches to control outlets here, and it's certainly possible that someone could plug a >10A load into an outlet.) There are plenty of high quality commercial grade US style switches to choose from.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 12:49 PM on April 27, 2019 [3 favorites]

in the case of a non dimmer switch, the current rating of the switch is really the only criteria which matters

Contact separation when open, and rate of contact separation while opening, are also important as they determine how fast the switch will break the arc that forms between contacts separated under load. A switch rated for 240VAC 50Hz will always perform better than one rated for 120VAC 60Hz in this regard.

Our lighting circuits are 15 amp, you don't want to be installing a 10A switch on a circuit with 15A circuit breakers.

Fair point. So if you go the Australian switches route you'd want to order them with 30M15 or 30M20 mechanisms (see page 56 of the Clipsal catalogue I linked above).

However, even though reliable Australian switches that would be totally safe for use in US lighting applications are readily available, their lack of the magic logo they would need in order to be US code compliant should indeed be a dealbreaker. But if you can find US switches with the same mechanical action as the Clipsal 30 series I would expect them to be equally reliable; it's an excellent design.
posted by flabdablet at 2:21 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: thx for the suggestions. Ok I tried to imgur this one.
posted by bitterkitten at 3:27 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

That looks like one of the rocker pivots has either worn through or snapped off or both. Would you consider reducing the size of the hammer you're using to operate them? :-)

Seriously, though, this does reflect an inherent design flaw in huge rockers: they apply a hell of a lot of leverage to a very small active element. Small fingertip-operated rockers like my lovely Clipsals don't suffer from that and are still far more comfortable to use than fingertip-operated lever switches. If similar designs are available in the US I strongly recommend them.
posted by flabdablet at 3:49 PM on April 27, 2019

Response by poster: I will definitely investigate. : ) Really, the blunt force applied is nothing radical. I am pretty sure I had these in my previous place and they were fine.
posted by bitterkitten at 4:31 PM on April 27, 2019

Can you tell us what brand the switch is? If you take off the cover plate, usually the brand name will be stamped on the face of the metal mounting flange at either the top or bottom of the switch.

I have used Leviton and Lutron switches and never had a problem with them.
posted by JackFlash at 4:31 PM on April 27, 2019

There are endless Chinese knockoffs of the Clipsal switches available for insanely low prices, most of which are in fact only about as good as their prices would suggest, and I'm sure the same applies to Leviton and Lutron. I wonder if the sparky who wired your place has succumbed to their siren song.
posted by flabdablet at 1:28 AM on April 28, 2019

If you want to keep your "rocker" (more properly called "Decora") style switches, I'd suggest finding an electrical supply house and purchasing "commercial" or "spec" grade versions of your switch. They are designed for a more rigorous environment than standard "residential" grade switches and should last indefinitely in a residential environment. They will be noticeably more robust in design.

You could switch to a standard toggle switch, but you'll still potentially have a reliability issue if you stay with a "residential" switch.

You can find commercial and sometimes spec grade switches at HomeDepot and/or Lowe's, but I find the pricing to be exorbitant. If you intend to buy 5 or more, I'd definitely take the extra effort to purchase them from an electrical supply house.

I prefer P&S switches personally. Leviton, Lutron and Cooper are reliable brands as well. Most important is the grade of the switch, though. For those high traffic areas, use "commercial" or "spec(specification)" grade switches.
posted by meropesado at 5:35 AM on April 28, 2019