Go through the wiring and see where it goes to? Call a lot of people and put them in strategic places and have them check for light/sound/heat/...?
I've got a couple of those in my house. One we identified as going to a wall outlet (just one of the two) near the front window -- actually works great come Christmas. Another is upstairs in the main loft area and the third is in the bathroom. Never have tracked those down.What would be the best method to determine the purpose of a switch in a (very) large house if nothing appears to happen when you flip it ON/OFF?
You may never find out. I have a couple switches in my family room that I have no idea what they switch. I have one switch that switches the power in my store room. Have no idea why they did that.What would be the best method to determine the purpose of a switch in a (very) large house if nothing appears to happen when you flip it ON/OFF?
One possibility is if there are old covers where a ceiling light once existed. Open it up and measure for power, with the switch in both positions
We had this situation in our house. A ceiling light was removed, the wires capped and a cover put over the opening. In fact, my younger sister was convinced she caused the Northeast Blackout by flicking this switch.
This https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-ET300-Electrical-Standard/dp/B003LHJSY8 or something like it could help if the switch controls an outlet. In theory, it could be adapted for other configurations.
Two different things. The tester I linked is a tone and probe. It generates a tone on the circuit of the outlet, and you can find the breaker with the probe. In the case of the switch, if it is controlling a receptacle, then the switch would sound the probe when it was turned on.Thank you fot all your posts. can someone posts why the link below
is better than this, for the purpose of finding out what a switch does, in other words wouldn't the ET250 model be better than the ET300 model?:
https://www.amazon.com/Voltage-Continuity-Klein-Tools-ET250/dp/B071Z1R8ZG
For this sort of chore, the voltmeter is actually less useful than a lamp.The other tester is useful, but not for that sort of test.
by Jake Hertz
by Aaron Carman
by Jake Hertz