How to Wire a Switch Loop
Price:
$10.00
Description:
Have you been scratching your head when it comes to wiring switch loops? Most people do when they first start messing with them. The good news is, we have a members-only video on that exact topic. A switch loop is a wiring scenario where a hot and neutral were run from a panel to a light fixture. Then from the light fixture, we run two conductors down to a switch making a loop with one conductor extending the hot down to the switch, and the other conductor extending a switch leg down to the switch. Per code we cannot use a white conductor as a switched conductor, so we reidentify this conductor as black on both sides. How we hook everything up is where the magic happens. First, we wirenut the incoming black hot at the lightbox with the unidentified white going down to the switch. This leaves us a black conductor coming from the switch to the lightbox, and the incoming neutral from the electrical panel. These two black and white conductors are what we’ll hook up to our light fixture. That wasn’t too bad now, was it?