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**Rain Man** · 02-15-2021, 06:03 PM

Our laundry room is in our basement, and the light switch to the room is located at the top of the stairs. However, you can also access the laundry room via another route in the basement with a different outside entrance, so we needed a way to turn the light on if you were already in the basement.

We discovered this need when we moved into the house 25 years ago. After a moment of thought, a cheap and easy solution presented itself. We got one of those motion detectors that screws into the light fixture, and we always leave the light switch on. That way, the light comes on whenever anyone enters the room from any direction. Once in a blue moon someone will accidentally turn off the light switch, but for the most part it works great and it was a $10 solution.

Now, if you go to the laundry room, it's got a big storage room adjacent to it. We access that storage room regularly for everything from WD40 to spare Dr. Pepper to tools to toilet plungers. It's got a separate light that is a classic pre-1950 style where the bare bulb hangs down from a wire and you turn a little thingie on the fixture to turn it on.

So the other day I had to go get a tool out of the toolbox. I went down to the laundry room, and ... the light didn't come on. I grumbled that someone had turned the switch off, but it didn't matter that much because I was going to the storage room anyway and I had little fear of an ambush. I crossed the laundry room, went into the storage room, and turned the little thingie on the hanging light.

It didn't turn on.

I found that odd, but assumed that the light had burned out. So now I had to go back upstairs to turn the laundry room light switch on so I could get enough light to find both the tool I needed and now a spare light bulb for the storage room. (We conveniently store spare light bulbs in the storage room.)

I went upstairs, turned the light on, went down, nodded a greeting to the now lit laundry room, and went into the storage room. Then I had a sudden thought. I reached up and turned the light thingie in the storage room.

The light came on.

I got my tool and went upstairs. My wife was there, and I said, "I'm really embarrassed to ask this question since we've lived here for 25 years, but did you know that the laundry room light switch also controls the light in the storage room?"

She looked at me and said, "It does?"

Apparently neither of us has ever gone into the storage room when the light switch was turned off.

02-15-2021, 06:03 PM	Topic Starter
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Rain Man's Avatar Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house	A minor electrical story for you. Our laundry room is in our basement, and the light switch to the room is located at the top of the stairs. However, you can also access the laundry room via another route in the basement with a different outside entrance, so we needed a way to turn the light on if you were already in the basement. We discovered this need when we moved into the house 25 years ago. After a moment of thought, a cheap and easy solution presented itself. We got one of those motion detectors that screws into the light fixture, and we always leave the light switch on. That way, the light comes on whenever anyone enters the room from any direction. Once in a blue moon someone will accidentally turn off the light switch, but for the most part it works great and it was a $10 solution. Now, if you go to the laundry room, it's got a big storage room adjacent to it. We access that storage room regularly for everything from WD40 to spare Dr. Pepper to tools to toilet plungers. It's got a separate light that is a classic pre-1950 style where the bare bulb hangs down from a wire and you turn a little thingie on the fixture to turn it on. So the other day I had to go get a tool out of the toolbox. I went down to the laundry room, and ... the light didn't come on. I grumbled that someone had turned the switch off, but it didn't matter that much because I was going to the storage room anyway and I had little fear of an ambush. I crossed the laundry room, went into the storage room, and turned the little thingie on the hanging light. It didn't turn on. I found that odd, but assumed that the light had burned out. So now I had to go back upstairs to turn the laundry room light switch on so I could get enough light to find both the tool I needed and now a spare light bulb for the storage room. (We conveniently store spare light bulbs in the storage room.) I went upstairs, turned the light on, went down, nodded a greeting to the now lit laundry room, and went into the storage room. Then I had a sudden thought. I reached up and turned the light thingie in the storage room. The light came on. I got my tool and went upstairs. My wife was there, and I said, "I'm really embarrassed to ask this question since we've lived here for 25 years, but did you know that the laundry room light switch also controls the light in the storage room?" She looked at me and said, "It does?" Apparently neither of us has ever gone into the storage room when the light switch was turned off.
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