On Jan 17, 10:59*am, pgcampbell wrote:
I want to install a dimmer switch to control the lighting in my dining
room. *My house was built in 1925.
There are two light switches connected to one workbox. *One light
switch controlls the light in my dining room. The second lightswitch
currently does not contol anything. At one time it probably contolled
the light in the kitchen but the kitchen was remodeled 50 years ago
and the lights in there are gone.

When I removed the faceplate to the workbox I found two wires inside.
They are not color coded. *One wire connected to the top of lightwitch
number one ( controllng my dining room light). *The second wire looped
around a copper screw at the bottom of lightswitch number one and then
continued on to lightswitch number 2 where it terminated.

How would I then install a dimmer to control the lighting in my dining
room? *I believe the top wire is hot.
The bottom wire to lightswitch number two...is that a grounding
wire...treated as a green wire? *Or is that
the second hot wire...treated as a black wire?

May I suggest that you do a little research and find some diagrams on
how a switched is wired. This will help you understand what you have.

A switch, when wired correctly, will open/close the hot lead to a
fixture. That means that one wire in your box (probably the bottom
wire) is always hot and the other is hot only when the switch is
closed. Technically, they are both considered hot wires.

Based on your description, it sounds like switch number 2 - assuming
there is only one wire attached to it - can be removed (after shutting
off the breaker of course).

Switch number 1 can be replaced with a dimmer by attaching the two
leads from the dimmer to the 2 existing wires with wire nuts.

Of course, this all assumes that the existing installation is correct
- it's possible that the existing installation is wrong and that the
neutral wire is being switched. That would take a bit of investigation
to determine, and should be corrected before installing the dimmer.