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Original poster

What is this random wall switch for?! It’s driving me mad!

30 replies

jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:46

Ok so we live in a rented apartment. It was built 9 years ago and we so far are the first and only tenants. There is a switch on the wall of the master bedroom that I have wondered for years what it is for and now am hoping the power of mumsnet can tell me! It is the bottom switch in the photo with a sticker that says lift. There is needless to say no lift in my bedroom nor in the building for that matter so I’m assuming the lift sticker possibly refers to the fuse panel that can be lifted out? Not sure but it’s driving me nuts!

What is this random wall switch for?! It’s driving me mad!
OP posts:
Fallulah · 30/03/2018 17:48

Immersion heater, so that you can still get hot water if the boiler dies? I had one too and assumed that was what it was.

Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:48

Also in case anyone wonders I have tried turning it off and on and nothing seems to happen

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 30/03/2018 17:48

Id say it was a master power switch. When in the alternate position does everything still turn on?

Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:48

Hm...I’ve never thought of that...though wouldn’t it be odd for the switch to be in the bedroom?

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Fallulah · 30/03/2018 17:49

Having read your post properly I think I'm wrong! Is there a lift in the building? Perhaps you have the master switch!

BusySittingDown · 30/03/2018 17:50

I have no idea but you’ve just reminded me of the episode of Friends when Monica and Rachel are living in the guy’s apartment and Monica is driven mad by the switch that nobody knows what it does!

Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:50

All the switches and lights in the room still work with the switch in either position

OP posts:
Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:51

And no there’s no lift in the building. And to add to the mystery my neighbours below me have the same switch labelled lift in their bedroom too

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Knitjob · 30/03/2018 17:52

Oh that would really bug me too. We once had a switch in a bedroom that controlled the security light at the side of the house. The switches for the other 2 security lights were by the fuse box. Totally random. Took us weeks to figure out.

(Sorry, that's absolutely no help to you...)

AdaColeman · 30/03/2018 17:53

Something to do with a hard wired smoke alarm system perhaps?

Or a light in the loft?

BustopherJones · 30/03/2018 17:54

We live in a new flat and just as the corridors have to be wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, the builders said our extra switch was to allow access equipment such as hoists to be installed.

Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:55

No loft. Smoke alarms are normal battery powered ones. I’ve even messaged our landlord a few days ago but no reply yet

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Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 17:56

Maybe it is for if they need to add disabled features in future... all the corridors etc also had to be wide enough for wheelchairs.

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AgnesSkinner · 30/03/2018 17:57

As above, we have this too. It allows for a lift / hoist to be added at a later date. Our downstairs loo can be adapted to a wet room too.

FrangipaniBlue · 30/03/2018 18:00

I have a random blank with a fuse in it in my living room. It's next to another blank at head height and not near any other electrical sockets.

I've lived here 20yrs and still have no chuffing clue what either one is for!!

FrangipaniBlue · 30/03/2018 18:01

These....

What is this random wall switch for?! It’s driving me mad!
Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 18:04

They are probably just in-line fuses that are used for safety. Which was my initial thought with mine but when I realised it didn’t do anything regards of whether the switch was on or off I realised it couldn’t be a connected in line fuse

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Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 18:05

Though the blank bit is probably to show where an electical access point is perhaps? So you could add a switch if you chose? Or maybe it’s the same mystery as mine just split over two switches

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PelvicFloorClenchReminder · 30/03/2018 18:06

It turns off the TV in Monica and Rachel's apartment.

wanderings · 30/03/2018 18:09

Moving into a house that had had 25 years' worth of DIY electrics, there were all sorts of random switches everywhere, including a bathroom-style pull cord switch outside the front door, and several redundant switches that did nothing.

But I'll second the idea that it might be so that a hoist could be installed.

Unescorted · 30/03/2018 18:10

Do you live in a housing association property? If so it will have been designed to Lifetime homes standard which means it is ready wired for hoists and lifts....it is cheaper to do it at build stage for all properties on the off chance than having to retrofit for one.

tortelliniforever · 30/03/2018 18:11

I don't know but I have recently discovered that the emergency pull cord in our shower rings the alarm in the lift outside our flat!

Bluntness100 · 30/03/2018 18:17

Op. When in the alternate position does everything work in other rooms too, inc your cooker washing machine etc?

I say that as I have a similar one, that switches off all the electrics to my white goods. Mine is clearly in the kitchen but if you didn't know what it was for it would confuse you. Hence why I'm thinking it switches the power off somewhere to something.

Original poster
jessebuni · 30/03/2018 19:40

Yep everything in other rooms continues as normal as far as we can tell. It’s private not housing but it being relatively new build there may well be similar regulations in place regarding disabled additions etc. So I’m going to assume it’s that for my own sanity

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Snowjoker · 30/03/2018 21:16

It’s the secret lift to the batcave

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