Electrical – Three sets of lights, turned on together or separately

electricallighting

I have three different lightswitches in my kitchen, and they control three different sets of lights in the room. I would like to control each set separately with a switch for each one, but also be able to control all three together with a single switch.

This seems like it shouldn't be too complicated, but I just asked the electrician doing work here and he said it would be very complicated and expensive. Is there a simple and elegant way to do this? Is there a specific kind of switch for this? How much would you expect it to cost to have this done?

Best Answer

Cheap and simple doesn't work with what you're asking. The most you could probably do is keep the "master" switch for each section and wire another switch on each light which, at most, would only be able to toggle select lights individually if the "master" switch is in the on position.

The only other way to obtain what you're looking for is with electronically controlled switches and relays which, exactly how it sounds, is not simple nor cheap.