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My favorite is when one of the switches does nothing you can visibly see and you never find out what it’s for.

Pretty sure its the integrated drivers that cause the delay with LEDs lighting up. Better than the case 5-10 years ago though, where we still needed external drivers to make them work - now you just run your line voltage straight to the sockets. Much easier on the electricians.

That is a crappy switch placement, though. A little more planning would've fixed that. Nothing stopping you from getting a label maker though.

The hilarity of your home wiring being sassed by the (admittedly amazing) guy whose video games boil down to "kill stuff, hit switches" with escalating difficulty and frustration.

On the one hand, I'd love our paths to cross. On the other, I'd relish the thought that he'd sweat just a little when trying to figure out anything inside my home.

Just wait until he discovers how some people configure smart switches.

One press turns the lights on. A long press turns them on dimly. Two presses turns the lights on in the staircase. Three presses…

There's a light-switch in my flat that has a red light in the fitting that illuminates when you switch it on. It doesn't turn on any light in the place. I have no idea what is for. As a Steven Wright fan, I flick it on and off occasionally hoping I get a call from some woman in Germany saying "cut it out."

Edit: after posting this I saw someone else had made the same joke, but fuck it, I'm leaving it up. Who knew there were other fans of a thirty year old album here?

Label makers exist, John.

Edit: just wanna thank Hawke for once again downvoting me. Love me a good stalker.

My open plan living room, kitchen, sunroom area has a bank of 5 on one wall, 3 on the other.

I'm the only person who knows what all the switches do from memory.

My wife and kids throw a lightswitch rave every time they want to turn the lights on over the island and i just beatbox techno while they try to figure it out.

You need the red card key.

I will never be not mad at the latency digital electronics add. It's so small and imperceptible, but it feels like an eon.
I bet the kids never even notice.

The real issue with this picture is not the "user experience", unless it is a hotel or some public place where customers are intended to interact with the devices.

The real issue is that the switches and plates aren't lined up right.

John carmack throwing shade on lightswitches was not on my bingo card

At least they're in one place. My brother's latest apartment is wired like a Zelda puzzle, and the switches are scattered around the living area.

I used to really like John Carmack until I found out he hangs out with Nazis.

That's just a typical videogame puzzle: figure the correct combination to open the door, or turn on the correct lights

Ten year old me is desperate to use the label maker I got for Christmas.

In a rental unit id be pissed to see that without labels, but in a private residence its whatever. You learn it quick enough.

That really is too many switches in the same place.

I have two identical light switches in the kitchen right next to eachother but one does the garbage disposal it is so fucking annoying.

I mean, it's your house and not a product you're selling. After a couple weeks you likely know which switch does what. Whenever a host comes you can show them the switches.

There's one room in my place where there are no fixed switches (well there's one, but it doesn't seem to do anything). So, all the lights are on the lamps themselves. This is obviously the best user interface in terms of knowing what a switch does. It turns on the light that's directly next to the switch. But, it's the worst system for lighting up a dark room, because you have to make your way through the darkness to find the lamp, find its switch, and turn it on.

Lights in the wall are a compromise in terms of switch-to-light user interface obviousness in favour of being able to see the UI or to find it in the dark.

As for knowing what turns on what, if you live somewhere you learn within a week or so what light does what. Your first week after a move is normally dedicated to more important things like finding your clean underwear. So, by the time you could start labelling switches to know what they do, you often don't need to do that anymore. The one place where labels would really help is hotels, Air BnB places, and maybe guest rooms.