Light Switch with Little Button

[Mike Lamb]

This light switch had a teeny button on it. I have not seen this before. It toggled like a rheostat switch. Sometimes the light would turn on when I flipped it and sometimes it would not.

Click to Enlarge

14.62 KB

[Marc]

Rheostats don't toggle, they're not switches.

What did the teeny button do?

Marc

[Mike Lamb]

I have seen dimmer switches that move up and down at a light switch. A rheostat is a dimmer switch, right?

I pressed the little button but nothing special seemed to happen.

[Marc]

A rheostat is a variable resister. I suspect dimmer controls are solid state, thought they mimic rheostat action.

I'm sure in ages long gone rheostats were used to control brilliance of incandescent bulbs. Technology changed but the term stuck.

So this little button isn't a lamp instead?

Marc

[Mike Lamb]

So this little button isn't a lamp instead?

Marc

I don't know. Maybe. I wrote the switch up as defective and have moved on. I was just curious. Thanks, Marc.

[tim5055]

I've seen folks put dimmer switches in place of a three way and they had the same effect, sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't.

[mlparham]

Home inspector's last words, "I wonder what this switch does?"