Can a 3-way illuminated light switch be altered?

I have an illuminated switch in my entry way of the house which controls the lights in the garage. The illuminated switch only lights up if the lights are OFF. I would like to know if this could be changed to light up when the lights are ON to notify my that I left the lights on out there in the garage. Any help is much appreciated!
Can a 3-way illuminated light switch be altered?
The short answer is no. I wish it was easy because I could use the same thing for my attic!



Upstairs in my workshop I solved the problem by installing a 3 way motion detector switch. It turns the lights on when I go up and automatically turns them off after about 5 minutes if no motion is detected. Because of the location of the switch in my attic it won't work as well but I might just move the switch one of these days.
Can a 3-way illuminated light switch be altered?
There is a switch with a little piolet light that is made for situations like an attic where the switch is not %26quot;3 way.%26quot; Because a 3 way switch can be turned on and off from 2 locations it would require separate wiring for a piolet. (It could be %26quot;off%26quot; at one switch while %26quot;on%26quot; at the other.)



So, no, but with a little cleverness you can get some items that will send a signal back into the house. I would be looking for a transmitter of some kind to make it wireless. If it does not operate on 110 you will just have to wire in a transformer. See what radioshack has available. Pick up the signal inside and transfer it back to sound or light. Security equipment might be of some help.



Another alternative is to wire in a bell or buzzer to the light that will then stay on as long as the light is on. If you work in the garage with the light on you would also need some kind of disconnect.



With a little more trouble you can wire power for the light back to the inside for a signal. In each case you are trying to get the power on for the light to be mirrored inside the house.



Another approach is to put your garage light on a motion sensor (or timer) as already mentioned.