Intermediate switch

One switch I intend to install in an extension will be a twin gang, one is for the porch light, the other is an intermediate switch for three external lights.
Trying to find the best switch.
I am going to use Hager for the rest of the face plates and they sell grid modules which I could use here but I am unsure of the back box depth.
I have used 25mm so far, this may require 47mm.
A thermal blocks wall.
Or I could use a Contactum intermediate switch.
Any suggestions which is the best solution?

 

Pro Hager tip.

If it's a standard 2G switch, buy a 2G switch and an intermediate switch. Flip them round, there's 2 little Philips screws on each switch mod, remove the switch you want to change and swap it for the intermediate. Job done. A 25mm back box will be fine, they're no deeper than a normal plate switch

 

Or get a 2-gang intermediate switch. You can use one of the INT gangs as a simple switch for the porch light.

See how to do it here
https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Intermediate
Scroll to bottom.

 

Hager don’t make a 2G intermediate switch

 

Maybe not. But we do not know if it must be Hager. He also mentioned Contactum, who do make one
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CM2723.html

 

No, but if the rest of the range is Hager it makes sense to keep it all the same. Contactum mixed in with Hager is hardly MK mixed with Hager, it’s markedly different

 

Yes, Contactum is far carppier than Hager.

 

The BEST solution is to wire the place so the intermediate switch ends up on a single plate - IE not at the position where you intend putting the 2 gang switch.

Not sure how far into the first fix you are, but maybe one of the other two switch positions may only require a 1 gang switch.

This method is best, as it will allow ANY range of switches to be fitted.

 

I suppose that's theoretically true, but isn't it in the nature of intermediate switches that one tends 'to want them where one wants them'?

Kind Regards, John

 

Well yes, but....

What sort of switches are at all the other positions for the external lights? Are any of them single gang? If so, make that one(/those ones if there are more than 3 switches) the intermediate(s).

 

What I mean is have all three (or more) switches where you want them, but make one of the 2 way switches go on a 2 gang switch plate, and make the actual intermediate (or intermediates) go a 1 gang switch somewhere where other switches are not required.

The chances of all three (or more) switch positions all requiring multiple switch plates are very slim.

 

Yes, I understood roughly what you meant - and if that is possible (in terms of desires, convenience and aesthetics), it's probably the easiest way to go (if one is starting from scratch).

Kind Regards, John

 

Yes, I always avoid putting an intermediate on a multi switch plate, would rather use more 3 core+e cable.

 

Is that just because (as we've heard) plates with two or more intermediates are not all that common, or do you have some other reason?

Kind Regards, John

 

No other reason, no.

Why make it hard for yourself if it's a struggle getting the switches you want?