Author Topic: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house?  (Read 10266 times)
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Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « on: November 28, 2020, 10:36:32 AM » Author: HPS_250
There was some discussion about this yesterday, so I decided to start a topic for it. So far, I haven’t found any switches in weird places in my house, but there are two switches in my bedroom that are not connected to power and do not control anything. I did find an outlet facing downward on the roof over my garage door, but it just gave me an idea to put Christmas lights there!
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #1 on: November 28, 2020, 11:09:26 AM » Author: suzukir122
Oh this is an easy one... at my apartment, there is a plug outlet right underneath the kitchen counter at random. And then upstairs
in my living room loft, there is literally six plug outlets. In such a small space, that is a lot of outlets. I have
no idea why so many.
There is also another plug outlet in a strange section of the wall in my kitchen.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #2 on: November 28, 2020, 12:40:42 PM » Author: joseph_125
Well I installed a outlet on the outer side of the deck railing. It's for stuff like Christmas lights, small streetlights that I install on the deck railing but I'm sure a lot of people would be perplexed my it. I also have a seemingly random NEMA 14-50 outlet in the basement. I guess for a second range that never got installed.

If anything I've always felt there are too few outlets. There's a small section of wall that doesn't have a single outlet and parts of the countertop in the kitchen that dosen't have a outlet.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #3 on: November 28, 2020, 01:27:52 PM » Author: Fluorescent05
I found an outlet on my roof! Well, not on my roof, but on a wall only accessible from the roof. It's not even in a box, just floating in the wall, which I will fix. Also, I found a 3 way switch in my parents' bedroom controlling our outdoor floodlight in conjunction with another 3 way in the kitchen right next to the switch that controls some 1980s Atlite recessed cans. Also, I found a single pole switch that doesn't do anything in my parents' closet. Finally, I found an outlet that was attached by a 1 foot piece of romex to my attic light. It wasn't even screwed to the stud, just sitting on the light's box until I noticed it. I ended up putting a plate on it and screwing its box to a joist.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #4 on: November 28, 2020, 01:48:43 PM » Author: HPS_250
Well I installed a outlet on the outer side of the deck railing. It's for stuff like Christmas lights, small streetlights that I install on the deck railing but I'm sure a lot of people would be perplexed my it. I also have a seemingly random NEMA 14-50 outlet in the basement. I guess for a second range that never got installed.

If anything I've always felt there are too few outlets. There's a small section of wall that doesn't have a single outlet and parts of the countertop in the kitchen that dosen't have a outlet.


Yeah, the outlet on the ledge over my garage is most likely also for Christmas lights. That’s what I use it for, anyway. That’s odd to have a random 14-50 outlet, but I guess it could have originally been planned to put a range in the basement. In the smaller bedrooms at my house, there are honestly way too many outlets. There are at least 2 on every wall there, but in some of the larger rooms there is only a single outlet!

I found an outlet on my roof! Well, not on my roof, but on a wall only accessible from the roof. It's not even in a box, just floating in the wall, which I will fix. Also, I found a 3 way switch in my parents' bedroom controlling our outdoor floodlight in conjunction with another 3 way in the kitchen right next to the switch that controls some 1980s Atlite recessed cans. Also, I found a single pole switch that doesn't do anything in my parents' closet. Finally, I found an outlet that was attached by a 1 foot piece of romex to my attic light. It wasn't even screwed to the stud, just sitting on the light's box until I noticed it. I ended up putting a plate on it and screwing its box to a joist.

That’s weird, I saw your picture of that! That’s also odd that it was simply floating inside the wall, so it’s good that you fixed it. There’s lots of 3-way switches in my house for some reason too, maybe it was popular in the 70s? All of the switches in the bedrooms at my house are disconnected from power and useless. I have no idea what they originally were for, maybe some light fixtures or outlets that were removed.
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I’ve always been interested in all kinds of lighting, mainly incandescent and HID, and especially all kinds of sodium lamps (HPS/LPS). I’ll tolerate LED but I’m not a fan of it.
I’m not proud to say that my city has Devolved to LED.

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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #5 on: November 28, 2020, 02:08:19 PM » Author: Fluorescent05
That’s weird, I saw your picture of that! That’s also odd that it was simply floating inside the wall, so it’s good that you fixed it. There’s lots of 3-way switches in my house for some reason too, maybe it was popular in the 70s? All of the switches in the bedrooms at my house are disconnected from power and useless. I have no idea what they originally were for, maybe some light fixtures or outlets that were removed.
I didn't fix it yet. It will be fixed soon though and I will save the original 1984 Leviton 5320.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #6 on: November 28, 2020, 02:15:15 PM » Author: HPS_250
I didn't fix it yet. It will be fixed soon though and I will save the original 1984 Leviton 5320.

Hopefully it goes well. Cool that you can save that receptacle!
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I’ve always been interested in all kinds of lighting, mainly incandescent and HID, and especially all kinds of sodium lamps (HPS/LPS). I’ll tolerate LED but I’m not a fan of it.
I’m not proud to say that my city has Devolved to LED.

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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #7 on: November 28, 2020, 02:53:32 PM » Author: Medved
Oh this is an easy one... at my apartment, there is a plug outlet right underneath the kitchen counter at random. And then upstairs
in my living room loft, there is literally six plug outlets. In such a small space, that is a lot of outlets. I have
no idea why so many.
There is also another plug outlet in a strange section of the wall in my kitchen.

Never heard about "too many outlets installed" story, ever.
But being hit by "too few outlets" or "more outlets needed" constantly. Without any interruption... All the time...
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #8 on: November 28, 2020, 03:17:13 PM » Author: HPS_250
Never heard about "too many outlets installed" story, ever.
But being hit by "too few outlets" or "more outlets needed" constantly. Without any interruption... All the time...

I haven’t really heard people saying they have “too many” outlets before either. Better to have excessive outlets than not enough!
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I’ve always been interested in all kinds of lighting, mainly incandescent and HID, and especially all kinds of sodium lamps (HPS/LPS). I’ll tolerate LED but I’m not a fan of it.
I’m not proud to say that my city has Devolved to LED.

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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #9 on: November 28, 2020, 05:01:29 PM » Author: Wireman
Once when I was about 15 I was helping my dad run some Romex cable through the attic, which was more like a crawlspace, I noticed a switch installed in a metal box attached to one of the rafters deep within the attic.
It was the first time I'd ever been up there.
I flipped it a couple of times but no light went on or off, actually I couldn't find a light anywhere around the switch.
So I followed one of the conduits from the box and it lead to the attic fan on the roof.
Turns out it was a disconnect if the fan ever needed to be replaced.
While I was up there I found a Westinghouse 3way eye saving bulb in a porcelain lamp holder.
It has that distinctive T-shape.
I still have the bulb today and it still works, well at least the 70w filament.
The 30w filament doesn't.
Based on what I've learned here on LG the bulb dates from the 60s, which is strange because my parents bought the house brand new from the builder,DCA, in 1978.
My parents figured that the builder put it up there.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2020, 05:05:32 PM by Wireman » Logged
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #10 on: November 28, 2020, 05:53:05 PM » Author: Bulbman256
In my new house the foyer has two alcoves on either side with outlets and a switch in the coat closet. These are supposed to be there for accent lights. There is also a random higher then normal switch in my laundry room that operates the lights to the attic above since the access is there. There are also dead swtiches in the bedrooms without ceiling fans and fan boxes so i could hang one up if i wanted to.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #11 on: November 28, 2020, 08:52:20 PM » Author: Cole D.
Nothing too unusual. But in the hall closet, there's an outlet about 4 feet above the floor. On the other side of the wall from it, there's also an outlet in the pantry at same height, but that has the freezer plugged into it.
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #12 on: November 28, 2020, 10:06:51 PM » Author: High Intensity
My parents' house has a good few weird switches and outlets thrown about, a few notable ones are...

6 outlets on the ceiling of the living room.

7 light switches on the front wall of a coat closet (6 of which are believed to have controlled the ceiling outlets).

A light switch in the living room that is placed 6 feet off the ground (it controls a hidden outlet that is used for track lighting).

2 light switches and an outlet 7 feet off the ground in a hallway (one switch is a furnace disconnect, the other is unknown).

And a 3-way light switch in my bedroom that controlled some outdoor lighting (this one was removed recently after the lighting circuit it controlled was routed to a new switch in a location that made sense).

That's most of them, I might be able to think of a few more later.
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Wireman
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #13 on: November 28, 2020, 10:17:12 PM » Author: Wireman
My parents' house has a good few weird switches and outlets thrown about, a few notable ones are...

6 outlets on the ceiling of the living room.

7 light switches on the front wall of a coat closet (6 of which are believed to have controlled the ceiling outlets).

A light switch in the living room that is placed 6 feet off the ground (it controls a hidden outlet that is used for track lighting).

2 light switches and an outlet 7 feet off the ground in a hallway (one switch is a furnace disconnect, the other is unknown).

And a 3-way light switch in my bedroom that controlled some outdoor lighting (this one was removed recently after the lighting circuit it controlled was routed to a new switch in a location that made sense).

That's most of them, I might be able to think of a few more later.
If there is anything I'd like to learn on LG it has got to be why is there 6 outlets on the living room ceiling??
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Re: Where is the weirdest place you have found a switch or outlet in your house? « Reply #14 on: November 28, 2020, 10:30:33 PM » Author: High Intensity
I do not know why, as the outlets have been there for as long as I've been alive and for as long as my parents lived in the place. And because they did not install them, they don't know why they exist either.

Now that I think about it more, it might make sense if they were used for decorative lighting, as they are located directly above 6 beams that hold the ceiling up.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2020, 10:33:14 PM by High Intensity » Logged
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