Adding An Electrical Outlet From A Switch

Depending on where you re installing a new outlet living space basement or outdoor area access to power may vary.

Adding an electrical outlet from a switch. To add an outlet to a light switch you start by making a pigtail using the hot wire the wire going to the fixture controlled by the switch and a third length of wire. There are 2 basic ways to install a new electrical outlet running electrical wiring from a circuit breaker to the new location or from another outlet in the same room. In order to add a receptacle outlet to a light switch the circuit wiring must be at the location of the light switch or contained inside the electrical box of the light switch. Hook up the outlet as you normally would.

The new owner is expected to use a lamp to light the room rather than a ceiling light. If you know which breaker in your electrical panel serves that circuit then switch it off. If there s a pair of neutral white wires that aren t connected to the switch you re in luck see photo. You can then add the new black wire to the black the white to the white and the ground to the ground wires.

Adding an outlet from a light switch is easy and it takes just a few dollars and a couple hours to do. Turn off the power to the switch box remove the switch plate and unscrew the switch so you can examine the wires. Thanks for the questions. If a switch or outlet is on a circuit that often blows its breaker or fuse.

Before working with any electrical circuits make sure the electricity is turned off. Don t make matters worse by adding yet another outlet to the circuit electrical codes restrict the number of lights or electrical outlets that can be connected to one circuit. Of course you need to check how many outlets are on this existing circuit before you add any outlets to avoid overloading of the circuit. Typically you can have no more than eight lights or electrical outlets on a 15 amp circuit.

If the power comes to the switch outlet box first and then to the light fixture you could add a receptacle from the switch box in that situation. The circuit wires required for an outlet include a ground wire a neutral wire and the circuit power wire. In today wiring tutorials we will be showing how to wire and install a combo switch and outlet device in residential areas to control the lighting point adding an outlet to the existing combo device connecting switch and outlet from different sources adding a gfci protected combo switch outlet and use the switch in the combo device to control the outlet in it.