In my case, as described, I wasn't trying to avoid them, I was trying to determine where they went, so I could perhaps figure out their function.

Sure...but that doesn't work for my joke.

As it happens we have a couple of switches that don't appear to do do anything. My stepson's bedroom, bizarrely, has what you would think was a light switch just inside the door but it only controls the power to an outlet on the wall opposite. There's no ceiling light.

It's quite common in the US to have a light switch by a bedroom door that is connected to a socket near the bed, so you can have a bedside lamp that you can turn on when you go to bed, and you can then turn it off while you're in bed. The annoying thing I find, is that in order to set the lights up for the following evening, when you get up in the morning you need to turn the bedside lamp back on, then turn it off at the switch by the door.

We also have three switches that don't appear to do anything, but for who knows what reason, they are wired with 37v. I suspect that the clue is that the 37v is around a third of mains voltage. One of them I removed, capped off the wires, and put a blank plate over the hole. One is the center of a gang of 3 switches, so there isn't much I can do with that. The third, I removed, capped off the wires and was going to put a blank plate over, but the next day the well pump stopped working for no apparent reason, as I hadn't been working on the well. After I had eliminated everything I could imagine, the only thing I had done the previous day, when the well pump was working, that shouldn't have had anything to do with the well pump, was the switch. So I put the switch back, and the well pump worked again - but it didn't matter whether the switch is on or off.

In the end I removed the switch, pulled the cable into the attic, installed an electrical box, and reattached the switch, and there it has remained.

Rather like having a switch at the door and one by the bed doing the same thing (in the other rooms but not stepson's) but with a bedside lamp if you want that too.

I just had a memory of growing up with a bulb/switch thing on the end of a cord above the bed going up to the ceiling to control the ceiling light that was some way over.

When I wired our house I put a switch on each side of the bed to control lamps plugged into switched outlets below. Now we can turn off and on nite stand lamps without having to reach inside a lampshade.

As a result of this specific discussion, I have decided that when we build, or do a major renovation/ rewire, I will have a switch on each side of the bed linked to a two-way switch by the door, so the bedside lamps can be turned on and off in bed and when entering/ leaving the room.

Stupid plumbing-type question. The rental we are in has an upstairs and a downstairs shower with a separate pump for each. One pump, for the upstairs, failed completely just before Christmas, with perfect timing. With any luck is being replaced next week. Until then we are all using the downstairs shower, normally my son's bathroom. He said that the shower water pressure was fine down there, but now I'm using it it seems very weak although water does flow out of it which the upstairs can't manage without the pump. Water tank, boiler and shower pumps are all upstairs. To test the shower pump for downstairs I turned the shower on and went to check the pump. On first attempt it made a whining noise for a couple of minutes then no more noise. Second attempt, no noise at all. Water presure coming out of shower still low and unchanged on both attempts. I'm assuming that, since it's machinery and not alien technology that the downstairs pump is dead, will also need replacing, and that the water that is coming out of the downstairs shower is due only to gravity. Water running from taps to bath seems ok.

So am I right, it's dead and I get to give my landlord more bad news?

I would let the plumber coming to fix the upper pump deal with it. Show him the low pressure problems. Is the apartment water source a well and not city water?

It's municipal water. Comes in from the mains ground level.

Could the pump be working even though it's silent? Seems wrong somehow.

It should make some noise and have a slight vibration you could feel when running.

Ok, so I tried again on hot got the whining sound and a bit of vibration. Turned it to cold (on mixer tap), whine and vibration stopped, seemed totally off and didn't restart when I turned it back to hot. Seems like it's on its way out?

If it runs on hot and pressure is ok on hot it is a more minor problem with a valve or switch. The plumber replacing the other pump will probably know immediately what the problem is.

I'll ask them when they get here. It only runs sporadically on hot.

I am not familiar with a pump for an individual shower - IME a pump is either for the entire system, or, the pump is integrated into the shower.

Can you post a picture of this remote pump, if possible showing model details and the spec plate (power (wattage), voltage, pressure, etc.) I am intrigued to see what sort of device it is.

And it is possible that a pump is near silent and vibration-free if it is a turbine design, as opposed to a reciprocating design.

This is the one they took out last year when it went belly up. They left it here for some reason, and it's easier to take pics of since it's accessible.