Black Light Switches

Which switching arrangement you need

This is the part that decides whether the lights work, so it is worth settling before the finish. A one way switch controls a light from a single position and is what most rooms use. A two way switch controls the same light from two positions, which is what a landing or a long hallway needs, and it takes a pair of them. An intermediate switch goes in the middle when you want a third position, so a room with doors at both ends and a switch beside the bed needs two two way switches and one intermediate between them. Most of this range is two way, which is the safe choice because a two way switch wires perfectly well as a one way.

What 10AX and 20AX mean

The AX rating is the current the switch can break on an inductive load, which is what a lighting circuit is. A 10AX switch is the normal choice for lighting. A 20AX switch is heavier duty and is used where the circuit carries more, or where the switch is doing something other than lighting, and it is also the rating you will see on grid modules. The rating is printed on the product page rather than the plate, so check it against the circuit rather than matching the one that came out of the wall.

The two blacks, and where each one sits

Matt black is a flat powder finish. Black nickel is plated metal with a quiet sheen that reads closer to charcoal under a warm bulb. On a switch this matters more than on a socket, because a switch is touched: matt black shows the oils off a hand, black nickel hides them. If the room already has black ironmongery, hold a handle against both before deciding, because the two rarely match each other and almost never match a painted wall the same way.

Plate styles

Screwless plates clip over a hidden frame and give an unbroken face, which is the cleanest option at eye level and the most common choice here. A flat plate sits close to the wall with visible screws and suits a room where the hardware is meant to read as hardware. A curved edge softens the outline and forgives a wall that is not quite flat, which is worth knowing in an older house. Screwless plates generally want a deeper back box than the plate they replace, so measure before ordering a whole floor.

Gangs, and planning a wall

A gang is one rocker. Most of this range is single gang, because most rooms switch one light from one place. Multi-gang plates put two, three or four rockers behind one face and are how a kitchen or an open-plan room controls several circuits from the door. The thing worth planning is the order: rockers read left to right as you face the plate, and matching that to the order of the lights across the room is the difference between a switch people learn and one they guess at for years.

Wiring, earthing and care

Replacing a switch is electrical work and belongs to a qualified electrician, who will also confirm that a metal plate is earthed back to the box. Two things you can do first: check the back box is deep enough, and count the cores at the existing switch, because a one way position often has no traveller and converting it to two way means new cable. For the finish, a dry microfibre cloth is all either black needs. Solvents polish matt black into patches that cannot be evened out.