When changing a light or ceiling fan, can I just turn the switch off, or do I need to turn the breaker off?

I know the safest answer is to turn the breaker off, but if you are an electrician and know what you are doing, is it possible (and safe) to do these things with just the switch off?|||Actually, some of the %26quot;old school%26quot; electricians switch the neutral instead of the hot. So if your light is wired this way and you only turn off the switch, you will get lit up if you touch the hot and ground together!! Best to turn off the breaker.|||Just the switch|||a lightbulb is fine idk about a ceiling fan though|||If your just changing the light bulb then the switch is fine, but if your replacing the light or ceiling fan then you need to turn the breaker off, or you will end up shocking yourself or worse.|||If you really are an electrician then you know that turning the breaker off is the safest way, but you also know or should know what you are doing so not to get shocked and knocked off the chair or ladder.|||Thhe safest answer is to turn the breaker off.


But, %26quot;unless%26quot; you are an a licensed electrician. Call for one.|||if you were an electrician, you would already know the answer, therefore turn breaker off|||if you turn the breaker off theres a more likely chance of not gettin electracuted!!!! its not safe at all to just turn the switch off cuz theres a way more likely chance to get killed!!! my dad does tht all the time with the breaker off so he wont get eletracuted and im glad of tht so he dont get killed!!! my dad says to never just turn the switch off cuz its to dangerous and to risky to lose your life from a ceiling fan or light bulb!!!!|||Not all power sources run directly to the switch. Some electricians wire the hot feed to the box %26amp; run a leg to the switch. If you are asking these questions, you are not an electrician and should turn off the breaker, or take the chance of getting shocked. Some electricians that I know always work with %26quot;hot%26quot; wires, some play it safe %26amp; kill the power. Getting shocked sucks, turn it off.|||yes you can but you run the risk of someone else turning the switch on you|||the old saying goes...there are old electricians and bold electricians but there are no old,bold electricians...