SP3T switch? Or SPDT down OFF?

Does anyone make a standard wall mounted 120 VAC toggle switch that is either: single pole double throw with OFF down (not center); or single pole triple throw (so I can use the down as OFF by not connecting it to anything)??

 

I havnt seen one,,, what is it you are trying to do?

 

A couple of things. 1) In some rooms I would like to be able to switch the lighting from OFF to night light to full light. 2) There will be one circuit in our house that is on a 24 hour timer and comes on in the evening and off late at night. Some night lights will be on this circuit. In addition, I want to be able to switch the porch light from OFF to timed to always ON. And I'd much rather do these things with one switch instead of two, and with one that looks like all the other switches, except it has two ON positions instead of one.

 

You might get some responses tomorrow from a couple other guys here,,, there a few of them pretty sharp that might have some ideas,,, they might know of switching options,,, but as far as looking like the other switches,,, I doubt it.

 

Personally I think if i wanted those options I would use seperate lights,, they could be different too. Some of the flourecents are low wattage and own fixtures with photocell,,, like outdoor,, they are great. Maybe add floods so you can get lots when you want it. In my place I have a couple of 15 watt flo's that run24/7 ,,, never have to fool with a switch and in shop one 25 w that run all the time too,,, again,,, no fooling with switches just to pass thru. There are some 3 1/2 watt that plug in recept that are really great too. They are not good in cold weather though. I see Home Depot just stock some 10 w or so too,, have own cord. You could make a circuit for that stuff and just put a switch on the load side of the timer to turn off when you want,,, that way it still stays in time when lights are off. I think this calles for some thought and creative thinking instead of cramming it in one switch option and also there is some new power managment systems that are flexable,,, but I am not sure how pricey though.

 

David,

I've never seen a switch like you're looking for, but I do have a suggestion. You could use a combination switch with one 3-way, and one single pole such as the Slater 696-IV. These are the type that have two switches stacked on the same yoke. The single pole can be wired to provide power to the common terminal of the 3-way, which would direct the power to one or the other traveler terminals. So in other words, one switch would be ON/OFF, the other switch would be LIGHT/NIGHTLIGHT, HAND/AUTO, or whatever you want to label it. If you can't find a combination single pole/3-way switch, a double 3-way like the Slater 693-IV would also work. Just wire one of the 3-ways as a single pole. Matt

 

Simply use a standard 3-way switch which is a SPDT switch. A 3-way switch can be used for an "emergency" scheme for exterior flood-lites. Each floodlite "normaly" operates from it's own switch. If the "emergency" switch is operated all flood-lites are switched On together. This is done by using a 3-way instead of a single-pole for each lite.. In the "normal" or "Off" mode the 3-way switches the flood-lite to the "emergency" terminal which is "normaly" dead. Operating the 3-way switch to the "On" position switches the flood-lite to 120 volts which turns the lite On. When the single-pole "emergency" switch is switched "On", 120 volts is switched to the "emergency" terminal of each 3-way, which turns all the lites "On".