The Historic District

Currently I've got an unfinished brass plate in the kitchen, which is not going to hold up well in that environment of oil and vinegar. So, I looked around for a plate that would be better suited and got a chrome plated one. While shopping, I happened upon this:



It's a reproduction of a Sargent design, Ekado. Yeah, yeah, I know it's more appropriate for a Victorian house - and I also know it's plastic (Oh, the humanity!) but I happen to like it for my already-eclectic-anyway sleeping porch. It's a good thing I don't live in an historically-important house, given all my departures from period correctness.

Incidentally, (I think 1918 might have mentioned this) they make dimmer switches cleverly disguised in the push-button style. The top button functions for on/off and the bottom button is the rheostat. I find it useful in the dining room where you may want a different light level when sipping a glass of wine than during cleanup.

Manalto wrote:Incidentally, (I think 1918 might have mentioned this) they make dimmer switches cleverly disguised in the push-button style. The top button functions for on/off and the bottom button is the rheostat. I find it useful in the dining room where you may want a different light level when sipping a glass of wine than during cleanup.

The blogpost I mentioned earlier in the thread has such a switch. The switch on the right with the two mother-of-pearl inserts is a dimmer. And coincidentally, those are the switches in our dining room.

Interesting etiquette aside I learned recently. One can/should dim the dining room lights after dark, but one should never dim them during daylight hours. One might as well use ketchup straight from the bottle rather than a condiment boat for one's pommes frites at luncheon. It's simply, not done.

mjt wrote:
The blogpost I mentioned earlier in the thread has such a switch. The switch on the right with the two mother-of-pearl inserts is a dimmer. And coincidentally, those are the switches in our dining room.

Ah, it was you! Looks good; your dimmer secret is safe with me. Forgive my laziness in not looking back over the thread and for the resulting misattribution.

mjt wrote: Interesting etiquette aside I learned recently. One can/should dim the dining room lights after dark, but one should never dim them during daylight hours.

I feel like a Cro-Magnon for not knowing this. I didn't even know you were supposed to turn the lights on during the day. Silly me; that's what I thought windows were for.

Manalto wrote:Ah, it was you! Looks good; your dimmer secret is safe with me. Forgive my laziness in not looking back over the thread and for the resulting misattribution.

No offense taken.

Manalto wrote:

mjt wrote: Interesting etiquette aside I learned recently. One can/should dim the dining room lights after dark, but one should never dim them during daylight hours.

I feel like a Cro-Magnon for not knowing this. I didn't even know you were supposed to turn the lights on during the day. Silly me; that's what I thought windows were for.

You don't need to turn on the lights, but if you do, don't dim them during daylight hours.

The first time I went to my (now) wife's parents for a casual summer picnic, I wore nice shorts and a nice t-shirt (no snarky sayings). Turns out in that part of town "casual summer picnic" dress means one wears an ascot rather than a tie. Same picnic where I learned about condiment boats...

JacquieJet wrote:Mjt, great advice. We’ve had a couple surprises about what is wired to where (seems to have been updated professionally, but not labelled super clearly). I’ll shut everything down first. Thanks for that!

Glad we can help. A simple voltage tester is useful for checking for live wires in a junction box.

If you're looking at dimmers, make sure you get the right wattage. if the switch is undersized, it will overheat. So much so that the switchplate will get hot. For example, if you are dimming a 6-bulb fixture with 60w bulbs, you'll want the 600w switch rather than the 300w switch (6 x 60w = 360w).

Go for the more expensive version of the repros, they have a more authentic "snap". I have been using repro push buttons for over 10 years no problems at all over half my house has them now. Find good (or new old stock) fac eplates on ebay (often cheaper than repro, and way more authentic) - I bought a box of 20 or so from about 1930 in their original packaging. I would advice against metal plates if you went for original switches. I would also not use original switches in kitchens or bathrooms

You are all a wealth of knowledge! Noted! Thanks!

you could mold more of those switchplates with epoxy. It might not pass UL standards. Neat about those dimmers. I do my best work in the dark

First one is installed! Loving it!

Nice!