Heartwarming Light Switch Load Wire

The ground screw is for the circuit ground wire connection.

Light switch load wire. A standard single pole light switch will simply require you to attach the black load wire into it and then the black wire leaving the switch and to your lights. You can learn more about multi way configurations by reading. The switch leg brings power to the fixture when the switch is turned on.

For those of us using led fluorescent or some other energy efficient bulbs under 20w a neutral is required. Also on some traditional switches the line wire is connected with a black or silver screw that is a different color than any other screws on the switch. If you don t have a ground wire leave the green screw unconnected.

If the wire is coming from the top of the switch box it is likely your load wire. One screw terminal is for the hot wire that feeds the switch from the power source. It is also usually black.

The other terminal is for a second hot wire called a switch leg that runs only between the switch and the light fixture. In some cases line wires are marked with line pwr or a lightning bolt symbol. Standard single pole switches do not connect to neutral circuit wire.

Interchanging the line and load wires on a conventional outlet has no effect on the outlet but doing so on a gfi outlet renders the breaker ineffective and creates a dangerous situation because the outlet won t give the protection it s designed to give. This is the wire that connects your switch to your light bulb or other load ie. In some cases the electrician will have gone to the load first and used a 14 2 to go to the switch and come back on the white wire.

The brilliant control can automatically detect which wire is line and which is load so they are interchangeable when installing in a single pole configuration. Line wire generally connected to the bottom half of your switch. The most common requirement of any hardwired automated light switch is a neutral wire.