teenagers & light switches

Grant,

Take heart, "teenager" is only a temporary condition. In ten years they will recover and become your friend again. "The Kid" and I had our rounds, he's

Usually one end of one of the 3-way switches goes to the power, one end of the other one goes to the load (light). On most 3-way switches, it is opposite to the end with the 2 wires. If there is room in the switchboxes for a timer, find the end of the 3-way switch that is always on when the light is on and always off when the light is off and put the timer in series in that line. Joel in Florida =========

Sure Grant, there is a very simple solution. Put a timer in series with the common line that feeds the 3-way switches. Home Depot and other hardware distributors sell them. IR sensors are also available, so that if no one is in the sensors's field of view, no power is applied to the lighting system.

Harry C.

Please note that this reference is for UK wiring, and the colors, etc have nothing to do with your part of the world.

I'm pretty sure there is such a thing as a timer intended to directly replace a 3-way light switch, made for the North American market, if you really do want to automatically shut off a light on a stairway. (That may be considered unsafe per the code - I don't know....)

Mickey

Ugh..... I just went thru this. I heard stories, but didn't imagine how tuff it was going to be. Daughters seem to go thru "IT" a little earlier, but then take a few steps backwards later..... Boys ?? UGH ! The pain, the grief, the agony !

It is true though, the day comes when you think they simply MUST HAVE been abducted by aliens and returned with brains and consideration for others. Things you never heard before, like: "Can I help you with that" ? "I cleaned my room, but I still need a dust rag"....."I cut the grass".... this stuff will be spewing forth from them in a way you just cant believe.

Regarding the Light bulbs, in some areas I just took it out and put a burned out one back in ! I found that they were too lazy to change it, and I never came home to find it left on.

Grummy

My 16 year old can't figure out why I'm laughing! Nice post. :)

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message news:45ce53d2$0$17408$ snipped-for-privacy@auth.newsreader.octanews.com...

You're a lucky man, Karl. Mine is now 43 and we still don't talk. She grew to be a handful when she was 15 years old and never got any better with age.

Harold

Daughters can be difficult. Daughters with PhD's can be particularly difficult because they think they know all after learning a great deal in their field though they don't know jack shit in many other areas including about life in general. Daughters with their father's renegade genes can be even tougher but ya gotta own some of that. Ya don't have to like it but ya do haveta understand it. Then stir in the ingredient of resentment of Dad's "new woman" after sainted Mom dumped Dad, coupled with Dad's loyalty genes that they direct toward sainted Mom because renegade Dad always comes up breathing no matter whut. Then mix genes of utter bloody f****ng determination to tilt with windmills and smash the blades that whack them and cause a cry and a tear or three before they proceed to demolish the windmill with tears copiously flowing as the windmill gets demolished and screw the cost. They cry easy but it's a very bad idea to make them cry. Blame that on their evil mother...

There ain't nothin' tougher than a tough competent daughter with an attitude. Oh well! Who would want less of a daughter? Ya don't raise yer kids for senior hugs, ya teach them to be survivors even if they thus become a challenge because they have the effrontery to have their own goddamned silly stupid ideas.

What is this shit, Don, you been watching? :-)

Harold

That's why the invigilators should be walking around the examination hall... keeps the lights on :-)

PIR's are ideal for corridors and stairs since people rarely stand absolutely still in those areas.

Mark Rand RTFM

But Ned, that will interfere with sneaking down the stairs in the middle of the night!

Steve

It's been a long time since I've gone sneaking around at night, except perhaps to go back to work. Have you found something more exciting over there in the puckerbrush than what we've got here on the coast?

Ned Simmons

Mine is 27 and we havent spoken more than a couple dozen words in the past 2 yrs. And I dont miss the conversation a bit. The last full conversation we had ended with a loud thump and a whine as his ass hit the wet muddy ground in a pouring rain, after telling me to go f*ck myself when I asked for help putting a tarp on a leaking roof. This followed dragging his lazy ass of the nice warm couch in my living room and throwing him through the screen door, down the porch and off the end of the side walk. And I told his wife if she opened her mouth..she could follow him, but Id have to go get the handtruck to move her fat ass out and plant her next to him in the mud.

They moved out a couple weeks later, after a year of mooching off ol dad.

Good riddence to bad cess.

Gunner

Political Correctness

A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Gee, I thought you objected to OT threads...

And you just had to get your idiotic 2-cents answer in there, too.

We already passed that point a LONG time ago - there are Passive Infrared motion sensing switches that retrofit into a standard switch box and will work in parallel. And they have the adjustable time delay built in.

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There comes a time when you have to make a decision about how much shit you're willing to tolerate at the hands of family. I reached the saturation point a long time ago. I'd be thrilled to have a good relationship with every member of my family, but when they make the cost prohibitive, it's time to move on. That's what I've done. I expect nothing, and I'm not disappointed.

You did the right thing. It's tough enough raising them without the disrespect.

Harold

My Boys are 20 and 18. Same wife and mother (Good Ole #1) I still have now. We parented as well as we knew how, and both boys are turning out OK. Pick your battles, but fight the battles. If you don't, you are not helping them. Of course, you can only do what you have energy and mental sanity enough to do.

The motion sensor idea is prolly most convenient for all involved, but you still need to have the "Here's the Electric Bill, How are you helping" discussion.

Mark (A child is the only known substance from which a responsible adult can be made) Dunning