How To

How to Wire a Light Switch and a Receptacle

Contributor
By Nek Lian
eHow Contributing Writer
(2 Ratings)

If you're expanding your home with an addition, finishing a basement or just adding lights and receptacles, knowing how to wire a light switch and a receptacle is an excellent set of skills to have. The principles of electrical wiring you learn in this job will translate well into further electrical wiring and repairs around your home. This article will tell you how to add a receptacle and light switch to a task such as wiring an addition to your home.

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • 14-2 electrical wiring Gang boxes Duplex outlet Light fixture Cable staples Wire nuts Screwdriver Drill
  1. Step 1

    Sketch out your wiring scheme. Decide where you'll place the electrical receptacle and light switch, and mark the positions on the studs of the wall with a pencil. As a guide, note how high off the floor the other receptacles and light switches are in your house.

  2. Step 2

    Mount gang boxes in the spots where the receptacle and light switch will be. Hold the gang box in the position you marked, and pound in nails to hold them in position on the wall studs.

  3. Step 3

    Run electrical wire to each gang box, as you sketched out in your diagram. Drill holes in the studs to pass wire through the studs. Secure the wire with cable staples when it needs to run parallel to the studs. Strip the insulation off the ends of the wire so that each black and white wire has 1/2 inch of bare wire showing. Then push the ends of the wire through the openings in the back of the gang boxes.

  4. Step 4

    Connect the wires to your receptacle. Connect the black wires to the brass-colored screw terminals and the white wires to the silver-colored screw terminals.

  5. Step 5

    Connect the wires to your light switch. Connect the black wires to the screw terminals on the switch, and connect the white wires together with a wire nut.

  6. Step 6

    Turn off the power at the breaker, and connect your new receptacle and light switch to the power source (either the breaker box or another receptacle in most cases). Turn the power back on and test the operation of the circuit by turning the light on and off and plugging electrical appliances into the receptacle.

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