A thing as simple as a switch.
What are the standard ampere ratings of the
switches, that you use in your country, for
lighting, appliance control, etc?.
Are 5A switches still used for lighting in your country?.
Your input please-

In england most of the lighting switches are installed with the following loadings;

Crabtree plate switches; 6amp or 10amp
MK plate switches are now 10amp
some other versions are either 6amp or 10amp

some grid switches, cover plate/grid/switch/back box these range from 6 amp 10 amp 20 amp

depends on the load you wish to switch.

Hope it helps

John H

I'll just add that the 5A switches were uprated to 6A in line with the change of MCBs from 5 to 6A.

Most UK made domestic light switches are now a minimum of 10A rating. (No derating for fluorescent loads.)
I believe some of the cheaper imported ones may still be 6A rating, but I only use the UK made ones.

[This message has been edited by David UK (edited 12-11-2002).]

One particular brand of switch, over here,
(PDL), started off as a 5A rated mechanism,
a few years later, it was then up-rated to 10A and again to 16A, this rating has recently been increased to 20A.
This is in a standard light switch, don't ask
me why, although I think it may have something to do with the in-rush currents of
Fluorescent lights.
Regardless of this, a 20A current rating on a light switch is a bit over the top, don't you think?.

The switches I've seen were 10A. Some carry a dual marking: 10A for Sweden, 16A for Norway. (You would have thought that they could have agreed on a 13A rating...)

In Kuwait we have for lighting 10 amps rated switches .
The general purpose socket outlets are 13amps (square)and 15amps(round).
All English makes are available here.
I have seen 6amps,weatherproof plate switches of MK make at a few sites (outdoor).

Old Austrian toggles and other old types were 6A, rockers like on the picture with the strip connectors hanging in mid-air next to it (Violations from Austria thread) were rated 10A, all newer ones are 10/16A (DC/AC).

Texas,
Is there a requirement to have a DC rating on
your switches?.
There was a school of thought over in Australia, that in the Outbacks, they should use a pure DC system, with localised Battery
systems.
Has anyone else ever heard of DC reticulation
around a township?.

Most of our domestic-type light switches have been AC-only rated for many years.

DC distribution (3-wire 200/400 to 250/500V) was used in the older parts of some British towns. It survived in places into the 1960s.

No one uses DC here any more, but any stuff (Schuko receptacles, switches,...) has a dual rating printed on it. There are quite some discussions going on whether this still makes sense. DC lines up to 220/440V (there were also 110/220V) have survived until 1965 here. Then they were converted to 220/380V 3ph AC. (German language has 3 terms: direct current, alternating current and rotating current (i.e 3ph), in German Gleichstrom, Wechselstrom and Drehstrom)