Wiring A Switch Leg

This shows wiring a light switch when the power comes into the light outlet first.

Wiring a switch leg. The switch leg is still made up of two wires but the hot wire connects directly to the switch and the two wires connect directly to the outlet. There should be one wire only under each terminal. Either 14 2 with ground wg for 15 amp circuits or 12 2wg for 20 amp circuits. A 2 wire feed is pulled from the nearest source of power like a receptacle or the panel to the switch.

One of these is the power feed and one is the switch leg but the switch terminals are interchangeable so there is no need to identify which is which. The other may be black red or white. A 2 wire switch leg is the only connection that should be at the light yet this method requires cutting and reconnecting the travelers at the light. The switched leg of a switch simply refers to the wire that is supplied electricity when the switch is turned on.

These electrical wiring diagrams show typical connections. Note the switch wiring. The required grounding conductor is not shown in order to keep the diagrams simple. 120v light switch wiring diagram e27 home lights with leg diagrams e25 neutral necessity three way switches jlc online vx 2972 how to wire a switched outlet electrical fd 1573 standard single pole smartthings 120v light switch wiring diagram e27 home lights with switch leg wiring diagrams e25 diagram neutral necessity wiring three way switches jlc online vx read more.

A three conductor cable is used to bring the hot wire the switch leg and the neutral conductor to the outlet on the right. The most simple and common method of wiring a single pole switch. Level beginner description power a hot and a neutral is fed to the switch with 1 switch leg run from the switch to 1 light. The term switch leg really means switched leg.

It is the wire that comes off of the bottom terminal of a switch and when the switch is turned on becomes hot. The switch leg is controlling the bottom half of each split receptacle outlet. Disconnect the old switch wiring. The diagram below shows the power entering the circuit at the grounded outlet box location then sending power up to the switch and a switched leg back down to the outlet.

The old method of a 2 wire drop is explained along with the current code r. When the switch is on the switched leg then provides power to the fixture or device to be powered. This is the leg that turns the load. The second wire completes the circuit by connecting to the house neutral wire in the switch wiring box instead of in the outlet wiring box.