Light Switch And Receptacle In Same Box

The red and black are used for hot and the white neutral wire at the switch box allows for powering a timer remote control or other programmable switch.

Light switch and receptacle in same box.

Because the electrical code as of the 2011 nec update requires a neutral wire in most new switch boxes a 3 wire cable runs between the light and switch. In this situation you need 3 wires between the light and the switch box to have an outlet next to the switch. It depends how you want the switch and receptacle to function. 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.

Notice that these outlets have the tab removed from the hot side or brass side of the outlet which allows the top half of the plug to be controlled only from the switch. I have a single gang box in a bathroom with a gfci outlet. Buy a single pole switch if one switch controls the lights or a three way if you have two switches controlling the same lights. The neutral is spliced with a pigtail to the neutral terminal on the receptacle and to the white wire running through to the neutral at the light fixture located in a separate box.

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. In this diagram a light switch and receptacle are wired in the same box. Standard and halogen bulbs require standard incandescent dimmers. A few fluorescent lights can be dimmed with special dimmer switches but most can t.

The outlet will have both receptacles live not switched. Jul 30 2017 easy to read diagrams for two outlets in one box 2 switches in one box switch and outlet in same box and other 2 gang wiring. Both devices are spliced to the same hot source. The vanity light currently is not switched.

One wire white brings power from the light box to the switch. I d like to replace it with a 2 gang box containing a gfci outlet and a light switch for the vanity light. The diagram below shows the power entering the circuit at the grounded outlet box location then sending power up to the switch and a switched leg back down to the outlet. If power is coming into the switch box from the panel and you want to connect an outlet to the switch your first option is to wire the receptacle to always be on.

Wiring a light switch and outlet on the same circuit is something that electricians do regularly. This is an updated version of the first arrangement. It is controlled by a pull chain on the light itself. It is connected to the wire bring power to the light box.