1/20/2024 0 Comments Installing dimmer switchHowever, this can be a bigger job and may involve some replastering.īy doing this, you’re ensuring that as long as both switches are in the off position, the light is switched off, but as long as one is in the on position, the light will work. It would be best to cut the wall where the new switch will live and feed the two traveler wires. If you’re creating a new one, you’ll need to feed the wire through the wall to the position for the second switch. Then it’s simply a case of connecting one traveler on switch number 1 to a traveler on switch number 2 and then connecting the other travelers on each switch together.Įxcept it’s not quite that simple if you don’t already have a 3-way circuit. The easiest way to remember this is to ensure that the power source feeds into the common terminal on one switch and that the light bulb is connected to the common terminal on the other light switch. You’ll work with two light switches with a common terminal and two travelers. If you’re worried about getting confused, label the wires as you work. Wiring up a 3-way dimmer switch is relatively simple, as long as you make sure to use it with a 3-way light switch. Modern circuit installations will have them as they are required by the National Electrical Code, but older homes may need the circuit breaker updating. If there’s a ground wire on the dimmer but not in the wall, cap it off.īut to be compliant, you’ll need to ensure your circuit breaker has a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) since there’s no ground wire to protect you in case of a fault. Then connect the ground, if there is one on the dimmer, to the ground in the wall. If your dimmer has extra traveler live wire, then cap it off unless you plan to use another switch. The two live wires need to connect to the live wires in the wall.Ĭonnect the black wire to the line wire in the wall and the red wire to the load wire. Installing a single-pole dimmer switch couldn’t be easier. Here’s a look at installing a dimmer switch, whether a single-pole switch or a 3-way switch. If it does have one, and there’s a ground wire in the circuit, then connect them up. The issue here is ensuring you’ve connected the correct terminals – more on that when I explain some standard troubleshooting solutions below.ģ-way dimmers will still have the ground wire as the fourth wire.įor both types of dimmer, this will be bare copper, or it will be green, or green with a yellow stripe. You can cap it off for safety using a wire nut. Note that if you’ve bought a 3-way dimmer switch but don’t intend to use it alongside another light switch, you don’t have to connect that second traveler wire. The common wire/terminal is what you connect to the power source, while the traveler wires are what you connect to the ongoing circuit to hook up to the light and another switch. There are three live wires, one from the ‘common’ terminal and two from the traveler terminals. The wires on a 3-way dimmer switch aren’t that different – what matters is how you connect them up. There will be two live wires – one to connect to the black incoming power source and one to connect to the wire leading to the load, aka the lights. ![]() There are two types – a single-pole dimmer that works as the only switch controlling a set of lights, or a 3-way dimmer (called a 2-way in the UK and Europe) designed to be wired into a circuit alongside another switch.Ī modern single-pole dimmer will usually have three wires. The number of wires a dimmer switch will have to connect depends on the type of dimmer. How Many Wires Do Dimmer Switches Have To Connect? ![]() ![]() Where you can add a dimmer switch to recessed lights.How to troubleshoot dimmer switch problems. ![]() In a 3-way circuit, the two load wires will ultimately connect to the second switch. Wiring a dimmer switch is as simple as connecting the live black wire to the live wire in the wall and the red load wires to the load. You install them into the circuit so that the hot wire comes into the switch, and then the wire carries on from the switch to the rest of the circuit, completing the loop.Īnd more importantly, how do you install dimmers? Is there anything specific you need to be aware of? Most light switches are designed to be connected with two wires.
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