Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 645	$ 709
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(236)	(251)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	162	148
Loans to affiliates	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	0
Proceeds from sale of businesses	273	761
Other - net	(51)	(52)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	148	606
Proceeds from borrowings	0	28
Payments on borrowings	(576)	(977)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	0	0
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	0	0
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0
Cash dividends paid	(467)	(397)
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		0
Exercise of employee stock options	44	78
Repurchase of shares	(99)	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	20	22
Other - net	0	(4)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(1,078)	(1,250)
Effect of currency on cash	1	(14)
Total increase (decrease) in cash	(284)	51
Cash at the beginning of the period	915	577
Cash at the end of the period	631	628
Eaton Corporation plc [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	52	71
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	0	0
Loans to affiliates	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	0
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	327	0
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(15)	0
Other intercompany financing activities	219	323
Cash dividends paid	(467)	(397)
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	(99)
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net		0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(35)	(74)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	17	(3)
Cash at the beginning of the period	3	7
Cash at the end of the period	20	4
Eaton Corporation [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(273)	234
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(51)	(86)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	0	25
Loans to affiliates	(151)	(50)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	176	28
Proceeds from sale of businesses	93	0
Other - net	(26)	(18)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	41	(101)
Proceeds from borrowings		17
Payments on borrowings	(551)	(972)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	2,754	1,560
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(2,125)	(1,688)
Other intercompany financing activities	84	840
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		0
Exercise of employee stock options	44	78
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	20	22
Other - net		0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	226	(143)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	(6)	(10)
Cash at the beginning of the period	51	54
Cash at the end of the period	45	44
Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	7	557
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(61)	(34)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	(155)	21
Loans to affiliates	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	187	88
Proceeds from sale of businesses	175	0
Other - net	5	(13)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	151	62
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	(1)	(1)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	254	352
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(320)	(188)
Other intercompany financing activities	(81)	(789)
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net		0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(148)	(626)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	10	(7)
Cash at the beginning of the period	10	14
Cash at the end of the period	20	7
Other subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	859	(151)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(124)	(131)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	317	102
Loans to affiliates	(3,191)	(1,912)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	2,454	1,876
Proceeds from sale of businesses	5	761
Other - net	(30)	(21)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(569)	675
Proceeds from borrowings		11
Payments on borrowings	(24)	(4)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	7	50
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(357)	(116)
Other intercompany financing activities	(222)	(374)
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		(2)
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net		(4)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(596)	(439)
Effect of currency on cash	1	(14)
Total increase (decrease) in cash	(305)	71
Cash at the beginning of the period	851	502
Cash at the end of the period	546	573
Consolidating adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	0	(2)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	0	0
Loans to affiliates	3,342	1,962
Repayments of loans from affiliates	(2,817)	(1,992)
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	525	(30)
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	(3,342)	(1,962)
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	2,817	1,992
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates		2
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net		0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(525)	32
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	0	0
Cash at the beginning of the period	0	0
Cash at the end of the period	$ 0	$ 0