Business Acquisitions - Summary of Pro Forma Information (Details) - Aclara - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 1,037.9	$ 959.2
Net income attributable to Hubbell	$ 67.7	$ 39.5
Earnings Per Share:
Basic (USD per share)	$ 1.23	$ 0.71
Diluted (USD per share)	$ 1.22	$ 0.71

Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information, Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

No definition available.

Name:	hubb_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaInformationEarningsPerShareAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	hubb_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma basic net income per share for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)-(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaEarningsPerShareBasic
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma diluted net income per share for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaEarningsPerShareDiluted
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma net Income or Loss for the period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaNetIncomeLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma revenue for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=hubb_AclaraMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: