How to Connect Two Lights & a Dimmer Switch
- 1). Choose your fixtures and dimmer switch. Most dimmer switches are rated for 600 watts, so make sure that the maximum total wattage of the lights does not exceed the rating for the switch. Locate an existing circuit capable of handling the added electrical load. Shut off the power to the existing power supply circuit.
- 2). Cut the openings in the wall and ceiling where you will be placing the switch and fixtures. In addition to the holes where the fixtures will be attached, cut a small opening directly above the switch where the wall and ceiling meet. This hole makes it easier to thread the wire from the switch to the ceiling fixtures.
- 3). Install the mounting hardware for the switch and fixtures. For the switch you will install a junction box that mounts directly to the wall. Use a telescoping bracket that will stretch between the ceiling joists if possible for the fixtures. Do not rely on the ceiling to support the fixtures.
- 4). Thread the cables using the fish tape, and pull the wires behind the wall and above the ceiling. First thread the cable from the power supply to the switch junction box, then thread the electrical cable from the switch box to the first ceiling box using non-metallic sheath cable rated for the circuit. Run another non-metallic cable from the first ceiling box to the second.
- 5). Run more cable from the second fixture box to the wall switch. You will now have one set of black and white wires in the first box that will be connected to the light and two sets of two-wire cable in the second box.
- 6). Connect the black wires to the brass screws on the switch. One black wire will come from the original power supply and the other from the second fixture box. Connect the white wire from the power supply to the white wire coming from the light fixture box.
- 7). Complete the connections in the fixture boxes by connecting all of the black wires in the second fixture box to the light fixture. Then connect the cables in the first fixture box together with the light. Using the hardware that came with the lights, attach the fixtures to the ceiling junction box.
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