You can do it, but not the way the wires are connected presently. That 3
wire cable probably goes to the other three way switch. Open the other
switch box, and see if you have a feed in that box. (Hot and Neutral) If you
do, disconnect the three wires going to the upstairs switch in the box and
reconnect just a hot, neutral, and ground going to the upstairs, and replace
the downstairs switch with a single pole



wrote in message
oups.com...
I have created a rental apt in my basement and I currently have a 3
way light switch that turns on the light at the top of the stairs and/
or from the basement doorway. I have turned the top of the stairs into
a closet and sealed it from the bottom rental unit completely. The new
closet is deep and very dark and so I wanted to add a small 60 watt
light to it, but, the only power or electrical in the vicinity is this
threeway switch (with red, black, white and ground wire, but the
switch goes between either the white and black to keep the lights on
downstairs or the red and white wires. Can I tap into this to create a
new circuit for my light. The current load on this breaker is pretty
minimal and the light will be used very infrequently. Thoughts and
suggestions would be appreciated !