How to wire electrical switches?

[Amy Leigh Baker]

Hi everybody,



I feel comfortable wiring fixtures, and even a single switch, but I have a double switch that I need to install and really don't want to call an electrician if I can avoid it. How do I wire this...

1. dimmer switch for a ceiling fan
2. regular light switch for the porch light
3. wire coming from the ceiling fan
4. wire coming from the porch light
5. one hot wire coming into the box

As there will not be light on the fan, all wires are 2 conductor plus ground. As I ripped the ceiling apart to run the fan wire, I ran 3 conductor just in case we decided to add a light down the road, but the third wire will not be used right now.

Thanks,

Amy

[Jim Becker]

I have found that the Black & Decker book I own on this subject to be very useful for verifying how to wire up these typical situations. It or similar is a good investment for anyone who contemplates doing some of the simpler wiring tasks around the home. That said, 1) don't do any electrical work you are not absolutely comfortable with, 2) be sure the power is off at the breaker while you are working and put some flashy tape over the breaker so nobody accidentally flips it on you and 3) don't be afraid to consult a licensed electrician, either to help plan the work or inspect the work.

[Rob Hough]

I just bought Stanley's "Wiring 101" and it seems to be a fairly good "beginners" book. Lots of illustrations, photos and tips. It also came with a DVD with various tips and installation procedures. Was $20 at the local home store.

[Brent Ring]

The orange borg book on basic electrical work is pretty simple and has specific diagrams for some of the things that you want to do! I think it's around 20 bucks or less.

[Roger Ronas]

EVERYTHING that Jim said.

Also if I understand correctly,
Hook all the grounds together, hook all thee white(neutral) together. Then on the black(hot), take the one coming into the box, and split to connect to the 2 switches. From other sid of switches, connect the 2 hots to the fan and light.

PLEASE make sure you understand electricity.

I'm am not an electrician and I am visually impaired as well as color blind. NO KIDDING about all that.


RCR

[Brian J Holmes]

first read EVERYTHING Jim said, then

Black (hot) wire coming into the box should be wire nutted onto 2 short lengths of black wire. these two wires will connect to one lug of each switch. It's possible that the fan speed control switch will already have a short length of wire coming from it rather than a lug. If this is the case just wire nut it with one other short wire to the incoming hot wire.

Then the hot wires from each light fixture connects to the second lug of it's appropriate switch. The white and ground wires get wire-nutted together in the switch box and connected to their appropriate fixtures. Also put a small wire nut on each end of the unused red wire for the fan.

Also when you say "dimmer" for the ceiling fan I'm hoping you mean speed control. Standard lighting dimmers can't be used to control the fan motor on a ceiling fan.

[Steven DeMars]

Black & Decker's electrical books are excellent. Also, look at this page if you need some specific info you can not filter out of the B & D Books . . .

http://www.mikeholt.com/index.php?id=homegeneral

[Jason Roehl]

One thing everyone here missed is about that dimmer switch for the fan. It should be rated for use on a fan, or it will hum/buzz. I just installed two fans in my house, and I put in the remote control module for both (sold separately) and love it. That goes up in the shroud next to the ceiling. But, if you do use a VS fan control in the wall box, make sure it's rated for fans (hmm, I think I said that already), not just a standard light dimmer. It will also likely come with a pigtail or two hanging out for you to nut onto the hot wire and the fan leg.

[Jason Roehl]

I forgot to add: on one of the fans (master bedroom), I added a light kit, but didn't connect it to the remote module because I had already wired for a separate switch in the wall. The remote module only had one white and one black input for power (and three outputs--white/neutral, fan/black and light/blue), so it can't be operated by two switches, it's either on or off by a switch, then everything else is controlled by the remote. The light I put on one of those very cool digital dimmers. One tap turns it on to its previous level, two taps is full on, then there is a rocker on the right side for adjusting the level, which is displayed by a green LED strip on the left. One of these:

http://www.prolighting.com/lutrondim...FQhsgwodUV1zZg

[Amy Leigh Baker]

Thanks, everybody. Like I figured it doesn't sound that easy. I will wire it up this weekend while I am off and can cut the power.

I have been working with electrical for about 6 years, off and on. My landlord at a place I lived in NYC showed me how to do it. He had a tendency to not cut the power off and accidently zap himself sometimes. (But, my landlord also used to pour his used motor oil down the sewer drain, too! I became really close with his family, and he would have chopped his left leg off for me, but he was somewhat of a brute, that's for sure.) So, since the work was in the fourth floor attic and the breakers were in the back of the basement I got lazy a lot and didn't cut them either. I think I got zapped twice before getting sick of it, and I would now never work with electrical without cutting the power first.

I just installed two fans in my house, and I put in the remote control module for both (sold separately) and love it. That goes up in the shroud next to the ceiling.

Jason, can you show me which remote module you love. The people I have talked to said they weren't impressed. I would like to see which model and how much.

[Jason Roehl]

Here's one (we use this one in the master bedroom):

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...03L&lpage=none

I THINK this is the other one, but there's no pic--it looks a little better, though, that's why its home is in the living room. Exact same functions, except it lights an LED when you press a button, and it uses AA batteries instead of a 9V:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...03L&lpage=none

The receiver units for both are identical, so you have to set some DIP switches inside each remote and each receiver if you have more than one, otherwise you would be controlling multiple fans throughout your house with one remote.

Oh, and I rarely shut the breakers off...even after I get zapped. I pay more attention to what wire goes where that way...

[Jason Roehl]

My bad on the one remote. I just looked, and the battery is one of those small 12V ones. It's about the length of a AAA, but the diameter of a AA. Looks like 23A is its designation.

[David G Baker]

My experience with ceiling fan remotes is to buy the type of fan that comes with a remote because some ceiling fans do not have the room for the receiver or if they do it is sometimes a major problem getting everything to fit in the small space provided.

[Rob Russell]

I highly recommend getting one of the little non-contact voltage sensors. They are the size of a pen and beep and flash when you hold them next to a hot wire.

They are a great way to make sure that you don't have multiple circuits running through a single box. BTW, that is code legal - and the breakers do not have to be tied together unless multiple circuits connect to the save device. A common example of when this might happen is in a bathroom. If you have a 2-gang box with a switch for the overhead light and a GFCI receptacle, there is a fair chance you've got 2 different circuits in there, depending on how the original electrician decided to wire the required bathroom GFCI receptacles.

IMO, doing electrical work on hot circuits is asking to get yourself dead and not something I would recommend to anyone.

[Jason Roehl]

Rob, interestingly enough, I have a non-contact voltage sensor (well, it's my friend's...). Anyway, it has a sensitivity adjustment on it, and I actually found it somewhat difficult to use. If it was set too sensitive, a neutral wire could set it off, or if set not sensitive enough, it wouldn't detect a hot wire.

On a side note, it could be set sensitive enough that if I moved it repeatedly as if I were stabbing myself in the heart, it would alert. On my kids, it would track their heartbeat just holding it next to their heart. It would also alert intensely when held at the base of the back of my or my kids' skulls. Pretty neat.

I agree, Rob--working hot is an elevated level of danger, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There are some precautions I take when I do (wire nuts on hot wires if I'm not directly working on them, I work one-handed as much as possible, use pliers to move wires, don't touch any metal, etc.). 240V work I shut off the breaker. Heard to many interesting stories about getting shocked by that--far worse than 120V (which is a little more than a tingle when it bites you).

As for the remote receivers, they all fit fine inside the fan shrouds, partly because I did flush-mount installations. No down-rods to mess with, and I also used deep ceiling boxes so I could stuff the incoming wires and nuts up there.