Adding Recessed Lighting To An Existing Circuit

i have just installed 4 cans controlled by a dimmer switch using 14/2 wire and plan to hook into a 15A circuit. The easiest wire for me to hook into this circuit is on the load side of a receptacle that goes to another receptacle. can I cut the wire that goes between receptacles and split the hot wire so it goes to the new recessed cans ( same for the white wire) and then on to the receptacle as previous?

Thanks

Tom
      


Similar Tutorials

How to Lay Sod - The Right Way!
   - Make sure the green side faces up! And, there are a few more steps if you want to ensure a nice looking lawn. Prepa ...
The Difference Between Volts, Amps, and Watts
   - This article explains the difference between Volts, Amps, and Watts in an easy-to-understand non-scientific way. T ...
Water is Leaking from the Toilet – What do I do? (How to replace the wax seal for a toilet.)
   - If there is water leaking from the toilet, you need to make sure that you know from where the water is leaking. Che ...


Similar Topics From Forums

If you have a 20 amp circuit going to your bathroom vanity, can you have two 20 amp receptacles on it, one a GFI receptacle and the other a standard 20 amp receptacle wired to the load terminals of the GFI receptacle ?



Or does the code require each receptacle to be a GFI on its own circuit ?



Arky
      
Finishing basement and have a few questions...



1. Have already bought recessed cans. Commercial Electric brand. I have now read a few places that these are junk. Why exactly and should I return them? Need to know know before I paint them black.



2. I plan on installing 12 lights on new 15A circuit using 2 switches one for left side of basement one for right (6 x 6). This is OK yes? Both switches will be in same box. And will be only thing on this new circuit.



3. Assuming I am running hot lead from main panel to switch box...there is no fancy wiring that needs to be done correct? 14/2 black to black, white to white except at switch correct?
      
hi everyone.



i am installing 4" recessed lighting throughout my main floor.  my house was built in the 40's and the previous owner installed drywall over the existing lath and plaster ceiling.  so I've cut a trench down the center of my room to drill floor joists to run wiring and cut my holes for the new lights.

the lights are fire rated and do not require insulated cans for a traditional installation in a drywall ceiling.



question i have is with the additional 1/2 to 3/4" of lath and plaster above the drywall, should these lights now have insulated cans or should i be fine with the cans I've got?  there is no insulation in ceiling.



any suggested would be appreciated.



thanks

d
      
Hello!



In a house I recently bought I have a strange situation.



There is a three way switch on one side of the wall with two sets of wires coming in:



Red, Black, White

Black, White



and then one stray Black that goes to the duplex receptacle on the other side of the wall (on the OUTSIDE of the wall!  Clearly an afterthought.)



Into the receptacle goes this strange black single wire from the light switch and the usual black and white wires + ground wire.



I went to change the ugly receptacle to a decora and now it doesn't work, though I'm not 100% sure it worked before.



I've wired the new receptacle as I remember it being wired before, any idea what is wrong? 



I've attached a diagram!



Thanks in advance for any input.
      
I am currently remodeling a bedroom in my home for a new baby.  I have gutted the room and am replacing all the electrical and adding new recessed lighting.  The room will also have a ceiling fan, along with the recessed lighting.  I am looking for a single gang light switch that will operate the ceiling fan independently of the recessed lighting, with a dimmer for the recessed lighting.  I don't have room for a double gang box where the switch is currently placed, as there is a closet in the way.  Is there such a thing as a switch that will operate the ceiling fan and it's lighting on a normal on/off switch, with a dimmer that can independently control the recessed lighting?  I have checked with the local big box stores and everyone has told me I will have to run two switches.  Is this the case?  Any info would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.
      
I have a single receptacle with 12/2 on a GFI (20 amp). I ran a 3 wire (14 gauge) to my other two receptacles and put a tandem breaker in the panel. Should I wire the receptacles as single receptacles on individual GFI's or split receptacles? They are more than a meter away from the sink. Also I have read the two 15 amp circuits should be on separate phases? How do I insure this?  Thanks gentlemen!
      
Can you install 6 recessed light off of one circuit by starting at a switch that is designed to turn an outlet on and off for a lamp that sits on a table.  i've determined all of the outlets in one room are on the same circuit.  The max wattage that will be used in that room if all recessed lights and TV etc are on would be approx. 1,500.  the electrical wire in place is 14 g.
      
I'm installing a new light in a closet with an in-line switch. Because of the build of my house, a mid-run receptacle is the only power source available without ripping open a bunch of wall and ceiling. I've got everything installed and tied into the receptacle with appropriate pig tails, but whenever I turn the power back on, the breaker for that circuit instantly flips. I've double-checked all the connections and wires, and they are connected to the appropriate terminals. Tied the pig tails into the terminals on the top socket of the receptacle.



Could this be the result of a faulty switch? The breaker trips whether the switch is in the off or on position, and there are no bulbs in the light fixture. I'm stumped. The receptacle in question is rarely used, and I've powered off everything else in the room to be on the safe side, but the breaker trips.
      
I want to run a new 12/3 to wire a room added on the back of the house. One circuit will be 6 wall outlets. The other will be a ceiling fan and 4 recessed cans. Can I add 2 outdoor lights-using standard outdoor bulbs-to the same circuit as the ceiling lights? Do I use the wall switch(box properly sized) as the junction for the outlet wiring and feed to wall switch for outdoor lights?
      
This is kind of a complicated question, but I  think I have figured out how to do it right.  I wanted to run it by some folks here before going to the city code enforcer.  See the attached diagrams for details.



I  am planning a fairly elaborate lighting scheme for my home theater  area, mostly because I plan for the theater automation to be a hobby for  me. (I'm an electrical engineer)

 

I want to have banks of lights that I could later choose to group  differently onto dimmer switches.  For example, I have six can lights.   Some people I have talked to think I should dim the front four together  and back two separately.  Some think I should dim the front two together  and back four separately.  Some say I should dim them all together. 



So I decided I'd run each group of two cans to a junction box, run  the switches to a junction box, and then wire the switches to the lights  in the junction box - then I could later change it if I decided it should work  differently.  In addition, this would keep the junction boxes the  dimmers were in free from extra wires, since I plan to buy nice dimmers  that are fairly deep and would take more space in the switch boxes.  And  if I find that using switches differently would make it more intuitive,  I can change which switch controls which lights easily after the fact.   This would also allow me later to possibly control the lights with an  automated system.

 

There are some track lights and rope lights, as well as a couple  receptacles that would all come back to the junction box where they'd be  connected to the switches/dimmers.



I am bringing in power from  two circuits to balance the lighting.  I plan to put some of the lights  on one circuit and some on the other.  The second circuit has some other  stuff on it already, so it has less load left over, so most stuff will  go on the first circuit.

 

Also to save on wiring and make running wire easier, I was planning  to use 14/3 wiring where possible.  Any given 14/3 wire would  always be connected to only one of the circuits (no shared neutrals).



The attached files show my exact plan for each circuit. Note they both  share the junction box in the upper right corner of the pictures, they  also share the switch banks.  This allows me to decide which switches  control which lights, as well as decide which lights will be powered on  which circuit to balance them properly.  Note that the track lights are  each 2 circuit track, that's why I'm running 14/3 to each.

   

See the attached files for circuit #1 and circuit #2



I am running 14/3 NM to the switches.  I was planning to have two  switches share one 14/3 cable.  I am also running 14/3 to each group of  two light groups that I want to control separately.



I've also attached a diagram from the perspective of the junction box.



I also attached an example circuit on how I plan to use the 14/3 wire.

   

Here are some other decisions I made:



- The junction box will  be PVC 8x8x4 (256 cu. in.)  All the wires coming into the box add up to  70 cu in. so the box should be plenty large.

- All the grounds from both circuits will be tied together

  - The neutrals for both circuits will always be kept completely separate (NO shared neutrals)

- No 14/3 wire will ever carry power from more than one circuit (this would violate the shared neutrals anyway)



Even  though this is kind of elaborate and for hobby, I want to be sure to do  it safely and up to code.  Does anyone see anything wrong with  my plan?

 

Thanks,



Daniel