Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	$ 655	$ 915	$ 642	$ 577
Short-term investments	335	794
Accounts receivable - net	3,972	3,648
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventory	2,498	2,382
Deferred income taxes	581	577
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	390	415
Total current assets	8,431	8,731
Property, plant and equipment - net	3,702	3,833
Goodwill	14,088	14,495
Other intangible assets	6,739	7,186
Deferred income taxes	241	240
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany loans receivables	0	0
Other assets	1,038	1,006
Total assets	34,239	35,491
Short-term debt	1	13
Current portion of long-term debt	412	567
Accounts payable	2,038	1,960
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued compensation	424	461
Other current liabilities	2,111	1,913
Total current liabilities	4,986	4,914
Long-term debt	8,587	8,969
Pension liabilities	1,170	1,465
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	675	668
Deferred income taxes	1,035	1,313
Intercompany loans payable	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	1,141	1,299
Total noncurrent liabilities	12,608	13,714
Eaton shareholders' equity	16,587	16,791
Noncontrolling interests	58	72
Total equity	16,645	16,863
Total liabilities and equity	34,239	35,491
Eaton Corporation plc [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	1	3	2	7
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	2	5
Inventory	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	3	8
Property, plant and equipment - net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	25,869	24,940
Intercompany loans receivables	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	25,872	24,948
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	24	4
Accrued compensation	0	0
Other current liabilities	59	5
Total current liabilities	83	9
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension liabilities	0	0
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Intercompany loans payable	9,202	8,148
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	0
Total noncurrent liabilities	9,202	8,148
Eaton shareholders' equity	16,587	16,791
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	16,587	16,791
Total liabilities and equity	25,872	24,948
Eaton Corporation [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	110	51	37	54
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	557	473
Intercompany accounts receivable	709	471
Inventory	395	344
Deferred income taxes	383	333
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	122	125
Total current assets	2,276	1,797
Property, plant and equipment - net	955	982
Goodwill	1,355	1,382
Other intangible assets	199	211
Deferred income taxes	935	839
Investment in subsidiaries	12,307	4,743
Intercompany loans receivables	8,111	8,019
Other assets	456	450
Total assets	26,594	18,423
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	103	552
Accounts payable	488	440
Intercompany accounts payable	3,873	3,734
Accrued compensation	88	140
Other current liabilities	736	547
Total current liabilities	5,288	5,413
Long-term debt	7,638	7,693
Pension liabilities	390	546
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	393	402
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Intercompany loans payable	3,471	2,113
Other noncurrent liabilities	507	652
Total noncurrent liabilities	12,399	11,406
Eaton shareholders' equity	8,907	1,604
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	8,907	1,604
Total liabilities and equity	26,594	18,423
Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	33	10	17	14
Short-term investments	1	134
Accounts receivable - net	1,021	922
Intercompany accounts receivable	3,671	3,369
Inventory	631	609
Deferred income taxes	113	155
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	20	20
Total current assets	5,490	5,219
Property, plant and equipment - net	717	761
Goodwill	6,246	6,294
Other intangible assets	3,858	3,996
Deferred income taxes	7	3
Investment in subsidiaries	58,289	38,039
Intercompany loans receivables	2,698	2,312
Other assets	141	186
Total assets	77,446	56,810
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	307	0
Accounts payable	396	380
Intercompany accounts payable	3,710	3,266
Accrued compensation	61	37
Other current liabilities	327	400
Total current liabilities	4,801	4,083
Long-term debt	938	1,266
Pension liabilities	86	131
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	171	171
Deferred income taxes	1,227	1,303
Intercompany loans payable	36,882	18,253
Other noncurrent liabilities	152	161
Total noncurrent liabilities	39,456	21,285
Eaton shareholders' equity	33,189	31,442
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	33,189	31,442
Total liabilities and equity	77,446	56,810
Other subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	511	851	586	502
Short-term investments	334	660
Accounts receivable - net	2,394	2,253
Intercompany accounts receivable	5,089	4,469
Inventory	1,522	1,466
Deferred income taxes	85	89
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	247	261
Total current assets	10,182	10,049
Property, plant and equipment - net	2,030	2,090
Goodwill	6,487	6,819
Other intangible assets	2,682	2,979
Deferred income taxes	146	145
Investment in subsidiaries	8,687	1,576
Intercompany loans receivables	39,421	18,822
Other assets	441	370
Total assets	70,076	42,850
Short-term debt	1	13
Current portion of long-term debt	2	15
Accounts payable	1,154	1,140
Intercompany accounts payable	1,864	1,310
Accrued compensation	275	284
Other current liabilities	1,005	965
Total current liabilities	4,301	3,727
Long-term debt	14	16
Pension liabilities	694	788
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	111	95
Deferred income taxes	655	757
Intercompany loans payable	675	639
Other noncurrent liabilities	482	486
Total noncurrent liabilities	2,631	2,781
Eaton shareholders' equity	63,093	36,276
Noncontrolling interests	51	66
Total equity	63,144	36,342
Total liabilities and equity	70,076	42,850
Consolidating adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	0	0	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	(9,471)	(8,314)
Inventory	(50)	(37)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1	9
Total current assets	(9,520)	(8,342)
Property, plant and equipment - net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(847)	(747)
Investment in subsidiaries	(105,152)	(69,298)
Intercompany loans receivables	(50,230)	(29,153)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(165,749)	(107,540)
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	(9,471)	(8,314)
Accrued compensation	0	0
Other current liabilities	(16)	(4)
Total current liabilities	(9,487)	(8,318)
Long-term debt	(3)	(6)
Pension liabilities	0	0
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(847)	(747)
Intercompany loans payable	(50,230)	(29,153)
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	0
Total noncurrent liabilities	(51,080)	(29,906)
Eaton shareholders' equity	(105,189)	(69,322)
Noncontrolling interests	7	6
Total equity	(105,182)	(69,316)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (165,749)	$ (107,540)