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May132010
It's Really That Easy!
Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 11:29AM 
Based on very minimal research, the light switch seems to have been invented over 100 years ago. It is the easiest device that I can think to use...you push it up if you want the lights "on" and you push it down if you want the lights "off." For the seriously lame, who do not recognize the change from darkness to light, they've made it super easy and preprinted these switches with the words "on" and "off." Really, if you struggle with directions on a light switch, there are probably bigger issues in your life, but that is not the purpose of this post!Energy output? Well, I'm not sure what the caloric output is involved with a flick of a finger tip, but I'm sure it's pretty low (down on the list near blinking or swallowing). Actually, I don't think you even need to flick the switch, because I often just rub my hand down the wall until the light goes out. Either way, energy output is a non-issue!
Location? Also not an issue. It's not like we hide light switches in our house. No, we typically put them right on the wall at hand height, conveniently located near the door for you to flick on your way in and out...
Memory? My kids always remember to turn the lights on when they enter a dark room, so it can't be memory.
So, can someone tell me why I find well lit empty rooms throughout my house every single day? Spare me any comments about how I sound like my dad. For those of you that know my dad, he has used automatic motion-detector light switches for the past 25 years. I've commented in the past that he always looks like a wounded seagull walking around his house as he attempts to get the motion detector lights to "notice" him.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Reader Comments (8)
Dude, you need to see the movie, "Life With Father". It's a classic!
Light switches...I with you, but I would have to include bathroom fans that run for hours before I notice them and turn them off.
There is a song that came out a few years ago and the chorus is "Every light in the house is on, the backyard looks like the crack of dawn." About once a week a find myself singing this as I go room to room turning off the lights.
Maybe you just have a bunch of creative types in your house. You know, "let there be light"...
Not all switches were created equal. Some will go on when flipped down and off when flipped up. We have many like that in our house. I believe that confuses some of the members in my house. They assume that since the switch is down the light must be off. I guess it takes to much energy to actually tilt your head upwards to see if it's on or off.
Ah yes...the head tilt takes a lot of energy...
Grandbro, you need a clapper!
Oh, the never-ending-saga-of-lights-left-on!!! At least some of the bulbs now are so low on the watts, but still is it really that hard. Daily exercise for me going through the house turning them off.
"When I was a kid we had to walk up hill to school, both ways, in the way, on a road coated with honey."
"When I was a lad I used to live in a box!"