How to Wire a Leviton Timer

Leviton timers mount to an electrical box with wires in it.

A Leviton timer helps lower electric bills when it interrupts an unused appliance's power supply after a set amount of time. A Leviton timer switch contains four preset time settings and an on/off switch. The time settings vary depending on the Leviton model. The LED lights next to the time selection buttons indicate the amount of time left before the timer turns the circuit off. A Leviton timer can wire into any circuit that a standard 120-volt switch operates.

Things You'll Need

• Voltmeter
• Wire nuts

Instructions

1. Separate the wire sets that enter the electrical box that the Leviton timer will mount to. The timer connects to two wire sets; one leads to the load circuit, typically a light or fan, and the other leads to a power source, typically a circuit breaker. Each wire set contains a black-colored wire, the "hot" wire, and a white-colored wire, the "neutral" wire. Both wire sets also use an uninsulated wire as ground.

2. Find the wire set that goes to the circuit breaker with a voltmeter. Turn on the circuit breaker that operates the circuit the timer controls. Pick one wire set and place one voltmeter probe on the black wire and one probe on the white wire. Read the voltmeter. If the voltmeter reads about 120 volts, then that wire set connects to the circuit breaker. If not, then the other wire set goes to the circuit breaker.

3. Turn off the circuit breaker that goes to the Leviton timer's circuit.

4. Spin the uninsulated copper wires from both wire sets and the timer's green wire together. Hold these three wires together with a wire nut. Wire nuts use internal threads to hold wires together. Spinning the wire nut clockwise squeezes the wires together.

5. Spin the timer's white-colored wire to both wire sets' white-colored wires. Hold these three wires together with a wire nut.

6. Spin the timer's black-colored wire to the black-colored wire from the wire set that goes to the circuit breaker. Hold these two wires together with a wire nut.

7. Spin the timer's blue-colored wire to the black-colored wire that goes to the load circuit. Hold these two wires together with a wire nut.

References

• Hyper Physics: Household Electric Circuits
• Leviton: Timer Switches for Energy Management
• Leviton: Electronic Timer Installation Instructions

Resources

• Leviton: About Leviton