Electricians: On/off switch with live/dead indicator

Ildhund

Thanks. I was actually thinking about tacpot12's idea of inserting a neon into the existing switch. I grasped the nettle and my electrician's screwdriver and loosened the faceplate just to see what wires went where. It was quite simple: the red and black conductors come out of the wall and into two terminals at the top of the switch itself. Blue and brown ones leave the bottom of the faceplate and the cable loops off to disappear behind the heater. There are green/yellow wires in what I assume are all the appropriate places, including to a 'U'-shaped metal bar that is in contact with the faceplate's holding screws. The receptacle is metal, which I understand from the EICR sparky is a potential risk that I suppose this extra earthing mitigates.

There is just about enough bare plastic in the bottom corner of the faceplate for a hole to accommodate a neon, which I would wire to the top two red/black terminals on the switch, right?

If you never hear from me again, contributions to favourite electrical safety charity, please    

Swipe

Ildhund said:

If you never hear from me again, contributions to favourite electrical safety charity, please    

Cut the power beforehand.

QrizB

@lldhund how did it go? You've been active in other threads so I assume you're not dead

Ildhund

I chickened out. I'll come back here if and when I decide to do something about my own situation; I really started this thread to find out if there was such an animal that people in that situation could easily take advantage of. 

For example, THTC refugees in Scotland who have been used to having a dedicated heating circuit at a cheaper rate all day on top of their even cheaper storage heaters. When they're switched to a five-wire smart meter and an E10 tariff, they'll need to know precisely when to start cooking or hoovering or washing or drying or showering so as not to be doing those things at peak rate unnecessarily, or even turning on the fan heater if the storage heaters don't cut the mustard. Can you think of a better idea? 

Scrounger

Ildhund said:

I chickened out. I'll come back here if and when I decide to do something about my own situation; I really started this thread to find out if there was such an animal that people in that situation could easily take advantage of?

Yes: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81123857#Comment_81123857

Zero cost solution with no drilling required and no damage to decoration.

Perhaps add a label explaining the function of neon.

[Just change back to normal operation before handing property back to your landlord]


Scrounger