Lights and Switches

Wiring a basic on/off switch to a light:

Figure 1.

Connect the ground (bare wire) wire to the device box and cut it off approx. 1 inch past the ground screw. Connect the black wire to one screw and the white wire (hot) to the other screw on the switch.     DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

Note: This is the only time that you want to use a white wire as the "hot" conductor. This is done so you are left with a black and a white wire at the light instead of two whites to hook up to your light.

Figure 2.

Usually you will have a 2 conductor #14 cable coming from the light box to the switch box. Conductor is a fancy word for wire and #14 is the size of wire you will use throughout 95% of your house.   DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

At the light box (octagon box) connect the black wire from the switch to the black wire of the light. Also connect the white wire from the switch to the black conductor coming from the breaker. Anytime you have a connection between wires it is called a splice. These wire connectors are commonly called marrets. A splice should be as mechnically strong, and as electrically sound as the original conductor

There is another way your switch /light wiring may be laid out. You may have your feeder (wire from breaker) entering the switch box instead of the octagon box. Check out figures 5 and 6. There is no right or wrong way, it comes down to what you prefer.

Figure 3. (shown on figure as #5)

Connect the grounds as before. Splice the two white wires under a single marret. Connect the black wire from the feeder (breaker or incoming power) to one side of the switch. The black wire from the other cable going to the light is connected to the other side of the switch.       DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

Figure 4. (shown on figure as #6)

Connect the grounds to the octagon box. You can either put one under the ground screw and use a marret to splice them together as shown, or you can put each one under a ground screw. Connect the white wire from the switch cable to the silver screw of the light fixture.     DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

Connect the black wire from the switch cable to the brass screw of the light fixture. If another light is going to be on the same switch then simply splice it onto the first light as shown.

Wiring a 3-Way Switch

The 3-way circuit is a very common system found within most residential installations. 3-ways are used any time that you want 2 switches to operate one light (or lights). The best example of this would be at either end of a long hallway, or at the top and bottom of a stairwell.

At a glance, 3-way switches look the same as the common single pole switch, but instead of having only two screws on which to make your connections, they have two connections on one side, and one on the other.

One of the three terminals is “identified” (by using a different color) and is usually the bottom screw on the side with two screws. It is referred to as the “common” terminal, and the other two are known as “travellers”. This is because the electrical connection either goes from the common screw, to one or the other travellers, depending on the switch position.

How to Wire a Basic 3-Way Switch:

There are several ways to wire up a 3-way circuit, and it would be very difficult to cover them all. I will touch on one of the most common and easy to follow methods.

Step One:

Bring the power supply in to one of the switch boxes (one hot, and one neutral), on a #14/2-wire cable.

Step Two:

Then, run a #14/3-wire to the other switch location.

Step Three:

From the second switch, run a #14/2-wire up to the light box.

Step Four:

In the first box, splice the neutral (white) wire from the power supply to the white wire in the 3-wire cable going to the other switch.

Step Five:

Attach the hot (black) wire to the common screw on the 3-way switch.

Step Six:

The red and the black conductor from the #14/3 cable will be called the “travellers”, and will hook up to the two remaining screws on the switch.

Step Seven:

At the other switch location, you will hook the white wire from the #14/3 to the white wire going up to the light.

Step Eight:

The “travellers” (black and red) from the #14/3 will connect to the same screws as on the other 3-way switch, and the black wire going to the light will tie on to the “common” screw (see Diagram).     DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

Wiring a Receptacle (120v/15 amp)

The 120v/15 amp receptacle is the most widely used type in your home. This is your standard run-of-the-mill receptacle that powers everything from your toaster to your T.V. For simplicity's sake we will refer to it by its more common name - the "plug". Here's how to wire them...

Fig. 1 - The most important part of the job is grounding!!! Always, always, always, connect the un-insulated ground wire(s) to the device box ground screw(s). Leave one of the wires long enough to go to the green screw on the receptacle.DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>

Fig. 2 - The black or "hot" wire goes directly under the brass screw. The white or neutral wire goes directly under the silver screw on the plug.

DIAGRAM>>>>>>>>>>>