I was all set with the thought of having a (shared) kill switch for each of the five cockpit lights. Even though these are low-draw LED lights that I am using in the cockpit and baggage areas, the manufacture states that the rheostat will not get the light all the way down to zero output. So there would be a small constant draw on the battery if the rheo was turn all the way down and a higher draw if accidentally left turned up - unless the lights were switched off and the power was removed. That was the reason I would like a switch on each rheostat – to be able to switch all the lights off as a post-flight checklist item. I would also like to control the light options from the front as I would not like the rear seater to accidentally flip on the rear light.
I want to have the following lights in the cockpit - Glareshield lights (Red and White), General front cockpit lights (Red and White) for writing down clearances, reading checklists, Rear cockpit lights would just be the white reading light on a rheostat. Turning it over in my brain, I realized that I could put the red/white glare shield lights on a DPDT (double pole, double throw) switch and the same rheostat could control the light as it was switched from OFF to RED to White. I could also control the Cockpit lights the same way. The regular on-off switch would be used for the baggage lighting and the on-off switch would control the rear seater’s reading light. Using the DPDT switches should allow me to use less switches and less rheostats – now to test my theory.
