Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net Income attributable to Hubbell			$ 61.5	$ 73.3	$ 80.1	$ 62.4	$ 81.3	$ 89.6	$ 90.2	$ 64.2	$ 277.3	$ 325.3	$ 326.5
Less: Earning allocated to participating securities, basic											(0.7)	(0.9)	(1.0)
Net income available to common shareholders											$ 276.6	$ 324.4	$ 325.5
Average number of common shares outstanding (shares)											57,700,000	58,800,000	59,100,000
Potential dilutive shares (shares)											300,000	400,000	500,000
Average number of diluted shares outstanding (shares)											58,000,000	59,200,000	59,600,000
Basic (USD per share)			$ 1.06	$ 1.27	$ 1.39	$ 1.07	$ 1.39	$ 1.52	$ 1.53	$ 1.08	$ 4.79	$ 5.51	$ 5.51
Diluted (USD per share)			$ 1.06	$ 1.27	$ 1.37	$ 1.07	$ 1.38	$ 1.51	$ 1.51	$ 1.08	$ 4.77	$ 5.48	$ 5.47
Performance Shares
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares granted (shares)	32,687	27,758