Wall Light Switch No White Wire

Two of the wires will be the current carrying wires that power the light.

Wall light switch no white wire.

The hot wire in a 120 volt residential ac circuit usually is coated with black insulation while the return or neutral wire is white. A switch box with no neutral loop will usually only have three wires see image below. Plus learn how to change a single pole switch to a 3 way switch. First of all we should connect the ground wires to the box.

With the power coming to the switch and then going to the lights you will notice that there are two black wires two white wires and two ground wires bare wires. A single pole single throw switch such as a light. If the light switch has a ground screw on it usually green and at the bottom of the switch connect it now. And then at the light junction box the two black wires or the black from the ceiling and the smooth solid color wire on the light fixture get attached together with a wire.

The two white wires get attached together with a wire nut. This is an updated version of the first arrangement. The cable has a black wire which connects directly to the circuit and a red wire which connects to the switch. But one of the wires may be white if your house is wired with plastic sheathed cable.

Because the electrical code as of the 2011 nec update requires a neutral wire in most new switch boxes a 3 wire cable runs between the light and switch. A smart switch can simply tie into the white neutral wires to complete the circuit and get a source of power to keep the radios in the switch working at all times. Kasa smart light switch by tp link single pole needs neutral wire 2 4ghz wifi light switch works with alexa and google assistant ul certified 1 pack hs200 white 4 6 out of 5 stars 10 637 limited time deal. Put a wrap of black tape around the white conductor to label it as a hot wire.

The red and black are used for hot and the white neutral wire at the switch box allows for powering a timer remote control or other programmable switch. Inside the light switch junction box the two black hot wires get attached to the screws on the light switch. In most cases the two switch wires will be some color other than green or white usually black. The standard way to power a split tab outlet is to run a three conductor cable to a wall switch.

They will usually be colored one black and one white potentially with black stripe.