Why a blanking plate and not a cap over your switch

Anyone with smart lights knows the problem: someone flicks the switch off and your lights are unreachable for your app, your schedules, and your voice assistant. The simplest solution is to mechanically fix the switch in the 'on' position. The only question is: how?

Option one: a cover over it

Existing solutions are covers that you stick or clip over the entire switch. That works, but there are three things about them that bother me. They build up: you get a box of a centimetre or more on your wall. They are usually held on with tape, so they shift and after a year leave their edge on your paint. And they are brand-specific, because every switch brand has a slightly different faceplate.

Option two: replacing the faceplate

Behind the faceplate of your switch is a flush-mounted box that has followed a standard for years: two screws 60 mm centre-to-centre. That is the standard on which all of continental Europe builds. If you remove the rocker and the cover frame, you look at the bare inner workings with exactly those two screws.

The Switchless base plate screws onto that. The faceplate clicks onto that plate. Result: a blind panel 15 mm thick that is attached to your installation instead of your paint, and that fits regardless of who made your switch.

You replace the faceplate, not your installation. No wires are disconnected and the internal mechanism remains touch-safe.

What you get in return

• A flat wall instead of a box that builds up.
• Screwed, so no tape that loosens or leaves marks.
• Brand-independent, because the box is standardised and the faceplate is not.
• Reversible: you keep your original rocker and cover frame in a drawer.

Installation takes five minutes with one flat-head screwdriver. Always turn off the power first, and if in doubt, have an installer do it.