Bathroom light pull cord switches

[Notcontent]

I was very intrigued by pull switches when I first came to the uk about 15 years ago. Recently had a major renovation and finally have normal light switches outside my bathroom doors! Are they still commonly fitted in new bathrooms?

Don't think so. I've always fitted switches outside the door. I'm trying to think of the last time I've seem a pull switch (I've stayed on four holiday lets and three hotels in the last six weeks) and really can't remember.

You can still buy them but I guess that’s for older properties that have not been upgraded. I used to hate mine - the string always got a bit grubby quickly...

I've had a new bathroom built (loft conversion) in the last few years and we have a pull switch. Seems weird to me to have the switch outside the room and pull cord is safer in the room, obv.

Two of our bedrooms have pull switches by the beds as well as by the door, and I love them 😁

I have one and I hate it. It "clunks" really loudly, and everyone in this house (apart from myself) swings it against the wall so it "clunks" then "clatters" and in the middle of the night you'd think people would be a bit more considerate, but no!!

@SingingSands

I have one and I hate it. It "clunks" really loudly, and everyone in this house (apart from myself) swings it against the wall so it "clunks" then "clatters" and in the middle of the night you'd think people would be a bit more considerate, but no!!

You want a little hook (the type you'd use for net curtains) on the wall - it'll hold the cord in place and stop it swinging about.

We have a pull switch. Our house is 1950s and there’s no space for a switch outside the bathroom.

We have a pull switch, it’s the law if it’s in the bathroom itself and the bathroom was recently redone. We didn’t wish to move it outside the room to have a normal one.

Our old house (1950s) had a pull switch. Our new build has a switch outside the door.

you can have an ordinary light switch in most bathroms. It just has to be at least 600mm, horizontally, from the footprint of any fixed bath or shower tray.

A washbasin is not a bath or shower.

In many bathrooms, if the hinge of a door is towards the bath, the width of the doorway gives sufficient separation.

Builders and householders are frequently out of date or misinformed.

I think a major cause is that BS7671 cannot be viewed or downloaded free (although you may find a copy in your local library) so there is a lot of hearsay and half-remembered unreliable information in people's heads.

if you care, you can find an IET article here go to "Section 701 - Locations containing a bath or shower" and the diagram is on page 31.

Any document that shows a zone round a washbasin is wrong (there are a lot of them).

PigletJohn is spot on, we've just had one replaced to a switch inside the bathroom as there was no space outside. I find the pull switches hideous and unhygienic.

@SingingSands : Swap your "knob" for a silicone teething pendant.

@Notcontent

You can still buy them but I guess that’s for older properties that have not been upgraded. I used to hate mine - the string always got a bit grubby quickly...

Yes same here. We changed it to a sensor light that comes on when the door is opened (downstairs under stairs toilet) and goes off after a few mins along with the extractor fan