You walk into your bathroom and turn on the light. Instantly the fan comes on, too. You think to yourself how nice it would be if the light and fan came on separately. Looking at the wall you see only one wall switch. You know that it should have two, other bathrooms you have been in do. So how do you go about adding the extra switch? According to electrician Greg Greiner of IBEW local 275, wiring a fan and light on separate switches is a moderately easy task that most any home owner can do.
Instructions
1. Volt testers verify that power to the switch is turned off.
Turn off the power to the circuit. The fuse panel houses either a circuit breaker or a fuse for each leg of power. Be sure that the breaker is switched to "Off" or the fuse is removed. Test that the power is off by removing the plate from the current light switch. Touch the tip from the red wire of the volt tester to the black wire -- the power feed -- on the top side of the switch, touch the black, or the common wire tip to the green ground screw on the switch. If the gauge moves, then power is still feeding into the switch and the proper breaker has not been turned off. Repeat the procedure until you are certain the power is off.
2. Unscrew the existing switch from the wall box and pull it out for access to the wires. Remove the wires from the existing switch. Place a piece of tape around the black wire from the top of the switch. This is the feed wire from the fuse box.
3. Place the double switch box against the wall. Make sure that it lines up with the existing box. Using a pencil, draw an outline on the wall around the new double box. Use the drywall knife to follow the line and cut a larger opening in the wall.
4. Remove the single box from its place. Pull the wiring through the back of the double box and set the box into the larger opening. The tabs on the box flip to the side to secure it in position. Make sure the box is good and tight in its space.
5. Cut the 12-inch piece of new cable wire in half. Use the utility knife to cut open the white outer casing from each piece of the cable wire. Grab the end of each wire in the cable with the pliers and pull them out of their outer casing. Discard the white wire while retaining the black and ground (bare) wires.
6. Take the two black wires previously removed from the new cable. Use the wire strippers to expose a 1/2 inch of the copper wire from the black casing on each end of the two wires. Use the needle-nose pliers to twist the ends from the two black wires to the existing black feed wire. Be sure to twist the wires tightly and secure with a wire nut.
7. Repeat step 6 with the bare (ground) wires twisting in the ground wire from the fan/light. The fan/light ground wire may have a green casing rather than being bare.
8. Twist the ends of the two white (neutral) wires in the box together. Secure it tightly with a wire nut.
9. Attach a black feed wire to the top right screw on . Use the pliers to be sure the wire is wound tightly around the screw, then tighten the screw into the switch.
10. Attach the red wire coming from the fan/light to the bottom right screw of the switch to be used to operate the light. Be sure the wire is wrapped tightly around the screw and tighten the screw to the switch.
11. Attach the black wire coming from the fan/light to the bottom right screw of the switch to be used for the fan. Wrap the wire tightly around the screw and tighten the screw into the switch.
12. Attach a bare (ground) wire to the green ground screw located on the bottom left of each switch. Repeat the steps for securing the wire and screw.
13. Push the switches into position in the box and secure them with the screws provided with the switch. Make sure the wiring is all inside the box behind the switches.
14. Turn the power feed back on. Test each switch to be sure that they perform the proper function. Once proper operation is determined, attach the double switch plate cover over the box.
Tags: screw switch, wire from, around screw, black wire, cable wire, each switch