Electrical – Wall outlets with constant power

First thing I'd check is if the switch is even connected to any wires. You can probably check this just by removing the face plate.

You already checked the receptacles, but did you check both the top and bottom outlet? Sometimes a switch will only control one part of the outlet. In this case, the metal tab connecting both hot terminals is broken so that the top and bottom outlets can be individually powered (and switched).

The next step is to look at the wiring of the switch. First turn off the circuit breaker and test again with a non-contact tester (if you don't know what the switches do, then it could have more than 1 circuit in the box - just to be safe). Remove the switch and take note of the switch type - is it a single pole switch or 3-way switch? (If its a 3-way switch then the color of the traveler might be helpful in finding what it controls.) Is the line (from the circuit breaker) in this box?

If a visual inspection doesn't give you any clues then you need to trace the circuit. This is usually done with the power off using a circuit tracer:

A telecom probe/tracer can also be used in many cases. You hook the tone generator up to the wires at the switch, and then you use the probe to follow the wires through the wall. With any luck you will find your way to a ceiling or wall box. Depending how badly you want to know, you might need to open the wall (or use a scope) at some point to help trace the wire. More expensive versions of this tool exist that might be needed to find really sneaky wires.

It's not unheard of to find out that a previous owner dry walled over an electrical box, so keep this in mind as a possibility.

And if you just can't sleep at night without know where it goes, you could always x-ray your house as a last resort.

_{(source: tomcomunicacao.com.br)}

(The above image is by photographer Nick Veasey. While this photo was stitched together, there are companies that x-ray buildings )

Probably. Here's a diagram of how a main panel and a subpanel are usually wired together:

In this diagram:

• The main panel (on the left) has one breaker at the bottom that controls two outlets.
• The subpanel on the right gets its power from the top right two breakers in the main panel.
  • Turning that pair of breakers off will turn off the entire subpanel.
• The subpanel has one breaker that controls three outlets.

So if this behavior matches up with what you are experiencing when flipping breakers, then you're probably OK. Obviously there will be slight differences, such your breakers will probably not be in the same positions in my example, the pair of breakers in your main panel might just be one double-wide breaker, or (unlikely) the pair of breakers in your main panel might just be a single breaker.

But if you're concerned, it is worth it to pay a second electrical contractor to come out and look over the other guy's work. Also, the work should have required permits and therefore an inspection by a government inspector. If that didn't happen, then that might be a red flag.

Also, new electrical work like this must be labeled properly to meet code in most jurisdictions. You are will within your right to call the electrician and insist he properly label his work.