Things You'll Need:
- Needle-nose pliers with wire cutter
- Small flathead screwdriver
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Step 1
Turn off the circuit breaker or remove the fuse supplying power to the switch and light where the dimmer switch is to be installed.
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Step 2
Remove the "switch cover" by using your small flathead screwdriver to remove the two small screws located directly above and below the toggle switch.
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Step 3
Remove the two "mounting screws" that mount your toggle switch to the switch box located inside the wall beneath the cover plate. Pull the switch outward away from the wall exposing the wires attached to the switch on both sides. Notice how the exposed wire ends are looped around the screws because you may need to use your needle-nose pliers to reshape the "screw loop" after you disconnect the wires from the toggle switch.
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Step 4
Disconnect the wires from the toggle switch by using your small flathead screwdriver to loosen the screws that connect the wires to the toggle switch. There should be three colored wires. The positive (hot) wire will be red or black, the negative (neutral) wire will be white, and the ground wire will be green or bare copper wire. Remove the toggle switch.
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Step 5
Connect the red or black hot wire to the brass-colored screw on the dimmer switch.
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Step 6
Connect the white neutral wire to the silver colored screw on the dimmer switch.
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Step 7
Connect the green or bare ground wire to the green grounding screw on the dimmer switch.
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Step 8
Mount the dimmer switch to the wall switch box using the two mounting screws at the top and bottom of the dimmer switch.
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Step 9
Cover the dimmer switch using the switch cover and two small screws that should have come with your new dimmer switch.
