I'm in the process of installing a whole house fan in my recently acquired home. The fan's in place and I'm currently working on the wiring. The fan came with a 3-position switch (Hi-Lo-Off) and a swichplate sized for a single-wide switch box. The switch is fatter than a typical lightswitch, but not as big as those decorative ones that look like plastic teeter-totters. I want to install a 12-hour timer as well, and was hoping to put both the timer and the 3-position switch in one double-wide switch box to make things neat. That requires me either finding a double-wide switchplate that has an atypically sized hole for my fat switch, or buying a replacement switch that fits in a standard sized hole. I suspect it'd be easier to find a replacement 3-position switch, but so far I've had no luck finding either at my local hardware stores (Ace, Lowes, Home Depot). Can anyone suggest places to look, either on-line or B&M? I know I can always use 2 single boxes, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

 

take your parts to the local electrical supply house. they will have what you need

semper fi

 

Go back to your local Home Depot, and instead of looking at the standard one-piece wall plates, check out the sectional wall plates that interlock to form a custom plate. The possibilities are endless, and you may just save yourself some money, versus going to the local supply house for a switch. They usually stock these by the other specialty plates, such as the wood, metal, and porcelain plates. If you find what you need, make sure you get the proper end pieces. These are radiused along one edge, similar to a regular plate.