I HAVE AN EXISTING LIGHT AND SWITCH, I AM NEEDING TO ADD A SWITCH TO THE SAME HOT WIRE (REPLACE SINGLE BOX WITH DOUBLE BOX) TO RUN TO A SEPARATE LIGHT. I WANT THEM TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY
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Start by looking in the switch box for the number of wires. post what you find and describe them by color and quantity and what they are connected to.
If all you see is one black, one white and possibly a bare wire, you do not have enough conductors present to do what you want and you will have to find another source of power.
If all you see is one black, one white and possibly a bare wire, you do not have enough conductors present to do what you want and you will have to find another source of power.
Basically, you connect the hot (black) wire coming in to BOTH of the switches. This can be done 2 ways:
- take a short 6-8" piece of black wire, connect 1 end to the same screw as the incoming hot wire on the existing switch, and connect the other end to the screw on the new switch. (This only works if the switch is designed to allow 2 wires to connect to the screw.) Otherwise:
- disconnect the existing hot wire from the switch & straighten out the wire. Take 2 short 6-8" pieces of black wire and connect 1 to the hot screw on the old switch and 1 to the hot screw on the new switch. Then twist together the other ends of both of them, plus the incoming hot wire, and cover with a wire nut.
All the white wires, from all 3 cables coming into the box, should be twisted together in a wire nut. Same with all the bare ground wires (if it's a metal box, there should also be a short bare wire from this wire nut to the box itself.)
You will have 3 cables coming into the box, each containing a black wire, a white wire and a bare ground wire. One cable is the existing one bringing power to the box, one is the existing cable going to the current light, and one is a new cable you add going to your new light.
- take a short 6-8" piece of black wire, connect 1 end to the same screw as the incoming hot wire on the existing switch, and connect the other end to the screw on the new switch. (This only works if the switch is designed to allow 2 wires to connect to the screw.) Otherwise:
- disconnect the existing hot wire from the switch & straighten out the wire. Take 2 short 6-8" pieces of black wire and connect 1 to the hot screw on the old switch and 1 to the hot screw on the new switch. Then twist together the other ends of both of them, plus the incoming hot wire, and cover with a wire nut.
All the white wires, from all 3 cables coming into the box, should be twisted together in a wire nut. Same with all the bare ground wires (if it's a metal box, there should also be a short bare wire from this wire nut to the box itself.)
You will have 3 cables coming into the box, each containing a black wire, a white wire and a bare ground wire. One cable is the existing one bringing power to the box, one is the existing cable going to the current light, and one is a new cable you add going to your new light.
