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In my home, I have a light socket that is always on. That is, the circuit does not have an off switch. I have screwed in a light fixture (which I screwed a light bulb into) which does have an off switch. I have been told, by an unemployed unlicensed electrician, that what I have is a violation of the building code. I kind of think it is consistent with the building code, but I am not sure.

I am also in the process of selling my house. I am wondering will anybody care about this issue. What should I do?

Bob
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2 Answers2

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It is a waste of energy, but that's the only problem.

In commercial buildings you actually have to have some lights on all the time, though I believe in many cases now you can have motion activated lights instead.

What you do have to have in most rooms is a switch that either controls a hardwired light or controls a receptacle into which you plug a light. That way if someone enters the room they can easily turn on the light. If the light is always on then you don't need a switch.

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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I don't know about building codes, but most smart lighting system requires, or can work fine, with a permanently active circuit.

Systems like Philips Hue or Ikea TRÅDFRI use a wireless switch, turning it off using a physical switch will make the bulb inaccessible to the wireless switch- this might be desirable or not, depending on your case. In many cases people would prefer to skip the physical switches and keep the walls "cleaner".

Rsf
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