Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	$ 934	$ 1,413
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(378)	(372)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	445	(185)
Loans to affiliates	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	0
Proceeds from sale of businesses	282	761
Other - net	(56)	(61)
Net cash provided by investing activities	293	143
Proceeds from borrowings	0	6
Payments on borrowings	(580)	(1,012)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	0	0
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	0	0
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0
Cash dividends paid	(700)	(597)
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	50	98
Repurchase of shares	(267)	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	20	24
Other - net	(3)	(4)
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,480)	(1,485)
Effect of currency on cash	(7)	(6)
Total (decrease) increase in cash	(260)	65
Cash at the beginning of the period	915	577
Cash at the end of the period	655	642
Eaton Corporation plc [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(4)	(10)
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 investing activities	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	726	0
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(25)	0
Other intercompany financing activities	218	504
Cash dividends paid	(700)	(597)
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	50	98
Repurchase of shares	(267)
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	2	5
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total (decrease) increase in cash	(2)	(5)
Cash at the beginning of the period	3	7
Cash at the end of the period	1	2
Eaton Corporation [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(699)	640
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(78)	(112)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	0	(115)
Loans to affiliates	(151)	(219)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	176	28
Proceeds from sale of businesses	93	0
Other - net	(40)	(25)
Net cash provided by investing activities	0	(443)
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	(552)	(975)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	5,510	1,975
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(4,794)	(2,391)
Other intercompany financing activities	574	1,153
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	20	24
Other - net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	758	(214)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total (decrease) increase in cash	59	(17)
Cash at the beginning of the period	51	54
Cash at the end of the period	110	37
Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	172	313
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(94)	(66)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	132	18
Loans to affiliates	0	(23)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	213	102
Proceeds from sale of businesses	175	0
Other - net	46	4
Net cash provided by investing activities	472	35
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	(1)	(35)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	254	2,436
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(320)	(1,639)
Other intercompany financing activities	(554)	(1,107)
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(621)	(345)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total (decrease) increase in cash	23	3
Cash at the beginning of the period	10	14
Cash at the end of the period	33	17
Other subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	1,433	523
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(206)	(194)
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	313	(88)
Loans to affiliates	(6,347)	(4,267)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	5,133	4,030
Proceeds from sale of businesses	14	761
Other - net	(62)	(40)
Net cash provided by investing activities	(1,155)	202
Proceeds from borrowings		6
Payments on borrowings	(27)	(2)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	8	98
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(383)	(130)
Other intercompany financing activities	(238)	(550)
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	32	(53)
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net	(3)	(4)
Net cash used in financing activities	(611)	(635)
Effect of currency on cash	(7)	(6)
Total (decrease) increase in cash	(340)	84
Cash at the beginning of the period	851	502
Cash at the end of the period	511	586
Consolidating adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	32	(53)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0
(Purchases) sales of short-term investments - net	0	0
Loans to affiliates	6,498	4,509
Repayments of loans from affiliates	(5,522)	(4,160)
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash provided by investing activities	976	349
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Payments on borrowings	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	(6,498)	(4,509)
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	5,522	4,160
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Cash dividends returned by (paid to) affiliates - net	(32)	53
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0
Other - net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,008)	(296)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0
Total (decrease) increase in cash	0	0
Cash at the beginning of the period	0	0
Cash at the end of the period	$ 0	$ 0