I'm sure you have checked this but just in case. Some switched plugs only are switched on one of the two plugin points. Check both plug in points on each plug.

Even if money wasn't tight, this is a silly thing to spend money or time on when selling a house.

Clearly none of them are for essential items or you'd already have them figured out. Figuring them out now isn't going to sell your house any faster nor is it going to get you any more money for it.

Yes, stash-hdy, we did that.

sbs9, it was actually mentioned by a RE-agent acquaintance we had do a walkthrough as something that ought to be fixed - she asked what one oddly-located switch went to, we said we had no idea and she said "find out and fix it". *shrug* We're in a craptastic market and the more silly little things you can square away the better. We'll be having an electrician in for a bunch of other stuff anyway but I'd hoped to use his time as efficiently as possible by knowing the answers to my stupid questions beforehand, and if it were something that could be found by looking at the receptacles, I could have the furniture moved out of the way and wallplates removed before he got there, but if one wouldn't be able to tell I wouldn't waste MY time. I also have this weird ethical thing about not making a known-to-me screwup someone else's problem if there's a relatively easy way I could avoid doing so; I know you're not supposed to have anything resembling ethics or basic kindness anymore in this dog-eat-dog world but what goes around comes around and I need all the good karma I can get.

I can understand wanting to get all the "little stuff" out of the way. Buyers can fixate on the craziest things. Sometimes a switch will control only half of a receptacle. So going into the junction box will be a hot, a switched hot, and a neutral. But for that to happen there's a little brass tab that needs to be broken off and some people don't realize that. I'd start pulling the receptacles looking for one with a wire going to each hot terminal or an unused wire in the box. Sometimes, too, people don't want a switch receptacle and just disconnect it without actually removing the switch.

Obviously the usual caveats apply when playing with electricity. Make sure the circuit is dead before you open any boxes.

Good luck finding your problem and selling your home!

Mike

The two gang switches with one overhead light could be a
set up for a ceiling fan/light kit.A seperate switch for each.

Someone may have replaced some half switched receptacles and not broken the tab off on the hot side. Take a guess as to which receptacle you thik the switch might have controlled and with the power off open the receptacle. Tell us the wires.

If you can't find what the switches control and you are worried about potential buyers, you could remove the switches, put wire nuts on the wires and put a blank cover over the box. At least no one would ask what the switch is for.

I think (properly) removing the switches is your best bet, too. My house has a bunch of switches just like you describe.. I exhaustively checked and couldn't find ANYTHING they controlled, so I just took all the wires off them, capped each wire off individually with a wirenut, and put blank cover plates on the boxes. Actually, I have a *breaker* that doesn't seem to do ANYTHING either.. it's been turned off for several years now, and I've yet to find anything that doesn't work, so I'm seriously considering removing the breaker too.

Is the area in questioned carpeted? We were working on a house in Dallas and the home owner mentioned a couple of mystery switches. After a thorough search, we found two floor receptacles under furniture. Plugged a floor lamp into one, flipped the switch and walla. The switches in question operate something.

Sorry I haven't gotten back to y'all. I haven't been able to do any investigating inside the boxes yet (just too much to do, but it's on the list) but I appreciate all the information and have saved it all.

There are ceiling fans in most of the affected rooms which were never wired properly when the previous owner installed them; one of the double switches just turns the entire fan/light unit on and off, you have to operate the fan and light individually with the pull chains. I believe there were just light fixtures there originally. The rooms were carpeted but we had hardwood installed. We got up close and personal with those subfloors ;-) so I know there are no floor receptacles. The PO thought he was a better DIYer than he actually was so the notion of replacing receptacles and not doing so properly is well into the realm of possibility! I'm crossing my fingers for that simple unhooked wire that can just be hooked back on, though. A friend is going to come help blast through some of the tedious and time-sucking things on the looooong to-do list, and one of his jobs will be those outlets now that we know what to look for.

I think the blank plate route would be the last resort, it seems like it would just shout "here's an electrical weirdness" (and none of them are conveniently located for just hanging a picture over LOL) - I take it there's no way of really getting rid of it without removing the whole wire back to the breaker box?

Depending on how they're wired, you can cut the wires at both ends such that they can't be reconnected, and leave the dead wires buried in the walls. But depending on the specifics, having wires in the wall can be convenient for future modifications.