Unknown wrote:
I am very new to home repair and have a lighting outlet question. When our
house was built we had the contractor put in outlets for
ceiling fans/lights. These outlets have 4 wires. One white, one
black, one red, and one bare copper ground wire.

My question is, what is the red wire for?

Fan.



I installed a ceiling light (no fan) in one of the outlets. I
connected the white wire to the lamps neutral wire (white). I
connected the black wire to the lamps hot wire (black). I connected
the ground wire to the lamps ground wire (bare copper). I left the
red wire unconnected. There is a green ground screw in the ceiling
lights frame that holds it up, but I did not connect anything to it. I
also did not cap the red wire.

Bad bad bad! At least cap it off. It may be live.

Frankly I would hook the fan to it so you can turn the light on without
the fan or the fan without the light. You may even want to put a dimmer on
the light (don't put a dimmer on the fan).


Am I going to burn my house down?

Depending on what is at the other end, that red wire could end up
causing a fire or end up killing someone who comes to work on it next.

The light works and doesn't trip
the circuit breaker. I'm just concerned about the red wire and want
to know if there is anything it should be connected to (or should it
be capped).
Thanks in advance for your help.

When I bought my current home I ordered a fan in the master bath, it was
not required. When were were making our last inspection I asked the manager
what the three switched did and asked if one might be a light in the bath.
One I knew turned on the fan. The others did not seem to do anything. With
out a hesitation, he said one operated a light in the attic and one a light
for the back yard. He went on to day I did no pay for a fan-light
combination so it could not be a light switch.

There is no light in the attic and neither switch activated any outdoor
light. They one was terminated at the fan the other was wired to the light
socket in the fan housing, all it needed was a lamp. The other line was
there if I wanted to add a heater. At least the electricians were up on
things.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math