Power Switch
Sharvari Ghosh, Banglore, India
This is the MCB Main Power Switch in any house. People generally get confused with its On/Off functionality.
The power switches are designed such that they work in opposite direction as compared to the normal switches. Many people do not use push-up and pull-down switches in their daily lives, so the first time user faces problem dealing with this too.
This difference is very crucial to notice in times of short circuits, where people do not have time to first think and then act.
Design of such utility products should follow conventions. This particular change in its working is not adding to any further enhancement of the switch.
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MCB's main job, as the name suggests, is to 'break the circuit.' Towards this end, it should be easier to break the circuit rather than make the circuit. This is why, pulling the MCB switch down requires almost insignificant human energy when compared to the significant amount of human energy and effort needed to push the switch up.
Making the circuit means allowing current to pass and that could be dangerous. So the MCB as it exists today is a very good design and follows on the Circuit Breakers used for higher voltages elsewhere in the electrical industry.
It will be observed that, in the USA, the household switches too follow the MCB switch pattern even though the voltage is less than half of the household voltage in India.
In conclusion, I think that the household switches in India should start following the MCB fashion.