| By :
Autumn Lockwood
When you look around just about any business or home, you will discover many types of electrical wall plates, and each one is created for a unique purpose. Understanding how to identify these plate types together with why they are used can be very useful for the average homeowner. Should you sometime come to the point where you must replace a wall plate, usually you simply need to change out your plate itself, which might very well be within your abilities. However, repairing electrical outlets can be quite dangerous if you don't know very well what you're up to. If you are not absolutely certain that you can do the project without any problems, the very best idea is calling an authorized electrician if you want to add to, replace, or repair anything electrical. Following is a list of all the different electrical plates which you may find in your house or business, along with the reasons why that one would be utilized. Conventional Light Switches These widely used wall plates are used to switch lights on and off. You can tell that this is a light switch because it has an average size and a switch, that you flip down and up to control your lights. Although push button wall plates were commonly used in the past, the up and down switches are actually accepted as standard. Decorative Wall Plates In most cases, decorative wall plates serve fundamentally the same purpose as conventional wall plates. However, these are designed in a much more decorative fashion, which could incorporate a good deal of style to your room. These plates are generally installed over the standard up and down light switch, and are available in a wide assortment of materials and styles, which includes metal, ceramic or wood. Multi-Control Wall Plates If your home or office has more than one fixture or outlet that must be controlled, it may be very useful to group every one of these controls in one location. For instance, maybe you have a wall switch that has multiple switches, or even one which combines a switch with a dimmer control, or perhaps a switch with an outlet. Irrespective of what configurations you might have for your switches, a specialized plate is usually made that allows you to combine whatever controls you may have in one wall plate. Although designing and wiring these kinds of combination controls is ordinarily a project for an electrician, simply replacing the wall plate ought to be as easy as replacing a conventional wall plate. Wall Plates For Dimmer Controls When you'd like to have the ability to control the degree of light in a room, what you would like to have installed is known as a dimmer control switch. There's a couple of choices which you have determined by what design of light fixture you have, and the choices are a sliding lever or a round dial. Although dimmer switches aren't right for controlling every kind of light, if one is already installed in your house, it should be a fairly easy job to change the plate. Wall Plates That Are Oversized Sometimes it is desirable to put in a larger than usual light switch within a building. Although these are not nearly as common in homes as they are in commercial buildings, you will occasionally find them. Rather than the usual up and down light switch, these controls generally utilize a rocker switch. As these typically are not so commonly found, verify that you're getting the right style and size if you have to replace one. Now that you know the different types of electrical wall plates available, you can better choose a wall plate to meet your electrical needs.
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.nextlevelarticles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
