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.

Wiring two switches for two lights. Wiring a light switch and outlet on the same circuit is something that electricians do regularly. 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. The hot source is spliced with a pigtail to the line terminal on the receptacle and to on terminal on the light switch.

It depends how you want the switch and receptacle to function. It isn t unusual to wire two or more light and switch combinations from the same power source in fact it s common practice. How to wire two separate switches lights using the same power source. 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. 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. One source is spliced to each switch with a pigtail to power the two lights. 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.

Codes also limit the number of wires that can enter an electrical box or electrical receptacle depending on the inside volume of the box and the gauge of the wires. The source is at the switch box and a 2 wire cable is run to each light. Here two switches are wired in the same box to control two separate lights. 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.

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. Box typical inside dimensions are about 2 in. 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. 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.