Installing Light Switch And Outlet In Same Box

Some gang boxes are in locations that do not allow the box to be expanded to add a separate light switch.

Installing light switch and outlet in same box.

They often run wires from the switch to a remote outlet but there s no reason why the switch and outlet can t be in the same electrical box. The outlet addition methods we show here are based on the most common wiring 14 gauge wire on a 15 amp circuit and an 18 cu in. When installing a switch outlet combo unit you ll want to know the difference between the two sets of wires coming into the light switch box. Wiring two switches for two lights.

Here two switches are wired in the same box to control two separate lights. Box typical inside dimensions are about 2 in. This diagram illustrates wiring a gfci receptacle and light switch in the same outlet box a common arrangement in a bathroom with limited space. One source is spliced to each switch with a pigtail to power the two lights.

After making sure the power is off you strip the black wire in the two conductor cable which also has a ground wire and make a pigtail with two 6 inch lengths of black wire salvaged from a spare piece of cable of the same wire gauge. Wrapping the wire clockwise when wiring a light switch ensures that the loop on the end of the wire will tend to close when the screw is tightened. It isn t unusual to wire two or more light and switch combinations from the same power source in fact it s common practice. If you put the loop over the screw in the counterclockwise direction tightening the screw will force the loop open and could create a loose connection.

If you want the receptacle to be powered all the time and want to use the switch to control a load other than the receptacle such as a light fixture you wire it like this. The hot source is spliced with a pigtail to the line terminal on the receptacle and to on terminal on the light switch. Wiring a gfci outlet and a light switch in one box. You can wire two single pole light switches in the same gang box using a device that combines two separate single pole light switches into one device using the original single switch space.

It depends how you want the switch and receptacle to function. As the diagram at electrical 101 shows the line cable is all you need to supply power to a pair of switches in a single electrical box. The source is at the switch box and a 2 wire cable is run to each light. One will be the power line coming from the breaker box and the other will be the wires connected from the light switch to the light fixture.