Generally, in my experience, light switches are in the room, perhaps near the door upon entering the room.

Is there a reason to put the light switch near the door outside the room?

I've noticed in korean shows/movies, light switches for rooms are generally inside the room EXCEPT for bathrooms. It's very common to see, even for newer housing, the bathroom light switch outside the bathroom - you need to toggle it before entering the bathroom.

I can't think of a reason for this - it seems odd.

So you can turn the light on before you enter instead of wiping around the wall in the dark…

So you don't use the light switch while soaking wet.

But in the US and (all?) countries I've visited, it seems the light switch is always in the bathroom.

Is Korea odd man out? Or is this more common than I've experienced?

The Boogie Man ALWAYS hides in Korean bathrooms at night. Turning on the lights before entering will prevent attacks in the dark and also prevents the Boogie man from grabbing the hand feeling for the switch.

When my sisters and I were young, and living in a foreign country, we had a bathroom light switch in the hall outside an interior bathroom. I would wait until one of them was in the shower, then turn out the lights. Hilarity ensued! They learned quickly to wait a few minutes after turning on the water before getting in. Curses! Foiled again!

Prolly to keep Hanako-san from running up the electric bill?

In the US, I've only seen that done for closets, including walk-ins.

An electrician might be along shortly to clarify, but I *think* it's code here in the USA to do it that way.

Perhaps different countries have different codes/regulations on this.

I do know, by what an electrician told me a few years ago, that the light switch should be just inside the room you're walking into, and if there are multiple toggle switches then the 1st one, nearest the doorway, is required to be the light switch. That's how my house is wired, every bedroom and the living room and breakfast room has ceiling fans, and the 1st toggle switch is always on the side nearest entry door and the 2nd toggle switch is for the ceiling fan.

Good question Sir !!! Food for thought.

One of my bathrooms has the switch outside the door because there isn't enough wall inside the room to put a switch. I added a kitchen addition a few years ago and have a laundry room on one side and a butler pantry on the other, I put the switches in the kitchen outside the doors. It seemed convenient and has been.

I don’t understand it either, but the bathroom light switch being outside the bathroom seems to be common around Europe from the times I’ve visited.

It could be useful as an indicator of the room being occupied. Don't need it here because nobody closes a door when they leave.

One of my grandmothers house was like that. The 2nd bathroom had a switch for the light, switch for the fan and a switch for the heat lamp on the hallway side (outside of the bathroom). House was built in the 40s.

All the switches were outside the bathrooms in Canada when I was a kid.

Maybe so when someone is in there for too long, the people outside who need it can flash the lights on and off, like in a bar at closing time.

'You don't have to go home but ya can't stay here.'

My wife cannot enter a bathroom for any reason with out turning on the light.
Apparently however… she is incapable of turning it off.

I finally installed a motion sensing switch…

I’m pretty certain it’s code for the UK to not have any sort of switch or socket/receptacle inside a bathroom. I think the only inside light switches you’ll see there are a pull chain type.

Dyslexic electrician

I grew up in a house that had the light switch outside the bathroom. My mother's father had done alot of renovations on the house before we moved in. When I asked about the light switches, my mother told me that he did it that way because that was what was required when he was building houses in Connecticut. That could have been in the '30s and later. State or local regulations or just preference, I don't know.

I have a 6 foot long hallway between my garage door and the door to the kitchen. On one side is a pantry and on the other side is bathroom.

On the garage wall and on the kitchen wall, there are double throw switches by the respective doors to control the light in that 6 foot hallway.

Someone could have just put a motion detector switch in the hallway and be done with it.