Connect your ceiling light to a wall switch.
A ceiling light, like all electrical fixtures and lighting devices, is connected to the home's power source through a switch junction box. A single pole switch allows current to flow to a single fixture or light (or series of lights, like track lighting) by opening and closing the electric current flow. A ceiling light is connected to a wall switch with electrical wires that run from a service panel to the switch junction to the fixture. Before wiring, the ceiling light fixture should be installed and the wiring run between the service panel, the switch junction box and the fixture.
Instructions
1. Turn off the circuit breaker that controls the where the ceiling light will be connected.
2. Study a diagram of electrical lighting to understand the wiring (see Resources). Basic electrical wiring consists of a "hot" wire and ground wire from the service panel to the switch junction box, a neutral and ground wire from the service panel to the and switch leg wire from the switch to the light fixture. Know the colors of each type of wire.
3. Strip 3/4 inch of insulation (plastic covering) off of each of the three wires in the switch junction box.
4. Look at the switch. You should be able to read "on" and "off" so they are not upside-down. This is the correct orientation to position the switch and mount it to the box after the electrical wires are connected.
5. At the switch junction box, twist the hot (colored) wire onto the single pole switch hot set screw at the bottom. Twist the ground (green) wire to the single pole switch ground set screw (green) on the back. Twist the fixture switch leg (colored) wire to the single pole switch set screw located at the top. Tighten all set screw attachments.
6. With the electric wire strippers, remove 3/4 inch of insulation from the ends of the three wires at the light fixture.
7. At the light fixture, use wire nuts and electric tape to connect the neutral (white) wire to the fixture's neutral (white) wire, the green ground wire to the fixture's green ground wire, and the switch leg colored wire from the switch to the hot colored wire at the fixture.
8. Screw the single pole switch to the junction box with the 6/32 screws. Screw on a cover plate.
9. Turn the circuit breaker back on and turn on the light switch. Electric current flows to the light fixture through the single pole switch.
Tags: , pole switch, single pole, single pole switch, light fixture