I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to install a
duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a source of 120 VAC that
I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible, is it permitted by code?

The switch should have a "hot" leading to it and a switched leg going from
there to the ceiling/closet light. You should be able to wire to that hot
wire and pick up a neutral as well for the 120VAC. The applicable
electrical code will depending on where you are located. Where I live in
the US, the hot legs are usually black or blue depending on phase and the
switched leg will be yellow, or orange, or another color. Neutral is always
white. Make sure your wire gauge is correct to the breaker size. For 15A
breaker, 14GA is required. For 20A, 12GA is required. Also, the third
prong outlet ground will be need to be connected as well, unless you live in
a location where a metal conduit is used and serves as the earth ground
return to the breaker panel. Check and observe your local codes, but this
should not be a difficult task

Bob

"bill murn" wrote in message
. ..
I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to install
a
duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a source of 120 VAC
that
I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible, is it permitted by code?

"bill murn" wrote in message
. ..
I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to install
a
duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a source of 120 VAC
that
I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible, is it permitted by code?

Any large hardware store will have a book which covers enough code for this.
Or try the library. If you violate code you may void your house insurance.
--
N

Jamie wrote:
bill murn wrote:

I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to
install a duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a source
of 120 VAC that I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible, is it
permitted by code?


Nec states that your suppose to have a different breaker(line) for
lights from other lines.


How is that consistent with light fixtures that have integral sockets?

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

bill murn wrote:
I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to install a
duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a source of 120 VAC that
I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible, is it permitted by code?


Nec states that your suppose to have a different breaker(line) for
lights from other lines.

CJT wrote:

Jamie wrote:

bill murn wrote:

I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to
install a duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a
source of 120 VAC that I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible,
is it permitted by code?


Nec states that your suppose to have a different breaker(line) for
lights from other lines.


How is that consistent with light fixtures that have integral sockets?

And how is it consistent with switched the outlets that at least some
codes appear to REQUIRE? The idea is that you will plug a lamp into the
switched half of the receptacle, and turn it on from the switch by the
entry to the room. My house, built 5 years ago, is full of them. I
hate them, so I asked the construction electrician not to put them in.
He said it is code, so if he didn't do it, it wouldn't pass the building
inspector. So I now have a switched outlet in every room. In each
case, a 14/2 w/g Romex comes from the breaker box to the wall switch.
Then a 14/3 w/g Romex goes from the wall switch to the duplex outlet -
the black (unswitched hot) to one half of the outlet, and the red
(switched hot) to the other half of the outlet. I suppose it is
consistent with your statement about NEC, since no light fixture is
HARD-WIRED to the circuit - but there is no other purpose to a
switched-outlet-in-every-room requirement other than a light.

Grumble grumble

Bill Jeffrey

Bypassing the switch is trivial. It is far easier than having to go the
other
way around and add a switch to a constantly on outlet.

Bob

"Bill Jeffrey" wrote in message
news:SYsce.6570$_o.5445@fed1read03...
CJT wrote:

"Bill Jeffrey" wrote in message
news:SYsce.6570$_o.5445@fed1read03...
CJT wrote:

Jamie wrote:

bill murn wrote:

I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to
install a duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a
source of 120 VAC that I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible,
is it permitted by code?


Nec states that your suppose to have a different breaker(line) for
lights from other lines.


How is that consistent with light fixtures that have integral sockets?

And how is it consistent with switched the outlets that at least some
codes appear to REQUIRE? The idea is that you will plug a lamp into the
switched half of the receptacle, and turn it on from the switch by the
entry to the room. My house, built 5 years ago, is full of them. I
hate them, so I asked the construction electrician not to put them in.
He said it is code, so if he didn't do it, it wouldn't pass the building
inspector. So I now have a switched outlet in every room. In each
case, a 14/2 w/g Romex comes from the breaker box to the wall switch.
Then a 14/3 w/g Romex goes from the wall switch to the duplex outlet -
the black (unswitched hot) to one half of the outlet, and the red
(switched hot) to the other half of the outlet. I suppose it is
consistent with your statement about NEC, since no light fixture is
HARD-WIRED to the circuit - but there is no other purpose to a
switched-outlet-in-every-room requirement other than a light.



My house (1979) had those annoying switched outlets in two of the upstairs
bedrooms, it was common in places a lot back in the 70's though it's not
often found in newer houses. I ran a new drop of Romex from a ceiling box
down into the switchbox and then rewired the outlet box to feed power out
the wire that originally went to the switch. Does it meet code? I'm not
really sure, probably not, but most importantly it's safe, and of course it
works.

Some parts of the electrical code are very nitpicky and other bits depend on
locality. I know what I'm doing and I do my own wiring safely, though after
seeing how the downstairs of my house was wired by the original owner and
gradually redoing nearly all of it I'm very hesitant to recommend someone
does their own wiring unless they truly understand it. I found switches on
neutrals, wires cut so short they pulled out of backwired outlets and
switches when I pulled them out of boxes, wire nuts that fell off at a
touch, ground wires tangled together without a crimp or a wirenut,
excessively stripped wires with bare sections hanging out, you name it.

Thanks to those who responded.



I've given up on attaching a duplex to the the switch. There are too many
studs

and firestops between the switch and the location for the duplex. I'm in a
25

year old building in which there is no separate grounding wire in the
electrical

wiring. Does this mean that the neutral serves as the ground? Also, it would
be

an easy run to wire a duplex from the main panel to the location almost
directly

below it, except that this old panel does not have a main circuit cut-off
breaker.

How would a professional electrician work on this wiring if he could not
turn off

the power? How would I wire the duplex to the panel when it is live? I
assume I would pull the wire up from the duplex into the panel--having
pre-stripped it--then connect to the duplex, then

connect to a new circuit breaker, then carefully push the CB into place. Is
this how an

electrician would do it?





"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:SgEce.3022$7K.1334@trnddc06...

"Bill Jeffrey" wrote in message
news:SYsce.6570$_o.5445@fed1read03...
CJT wrote:

Jamie wrote:

bill murn wrote:

I have a closet w just a ceiling light and wall switch. I want to
install a duplex receptacle in the closet. Is the wall switch a
source of 120 VAC that I can use to wire my receptacle? If possible,
is it permitted by code?


Nec states that your suppose to have a different breaker(line) for
lights from other lines.


How is that consistent with light fixtures that have integral sockets?

And how is it consistent with switched the outlets that at least some
codes appear to REQUIRE? The idea is that you will plug a lamp into the
switched half of the receptacle, and turn it on from the switch by the
entry to the room. My house, built 5 years ago, is full of them. I
hate them, so I asked the construction electrician not to put them in.
He said it is code, so if he didn't do it, it wouldn't pass the building
inspector. So I now have a switched outlet in every room. In each
case, a 14/2 w/g Romex comes from the breaker box to the wall switch.
Then a 14/3 w/g Romex goes from the wall switch to the duplex outlet -
the black (unswitched hot) to one half of the outlet, and the red
(switched hot) to the other half of the outlet. I suppose it is
consistent with your statement about NEC, since no light fixture is
HARD-WIRED to the circuit - but there is no other purpose to a
switched-outlet-in-every-room requirement other than a light.



My house (1979) had those annoying switched outlets in two of the upstairs
bedrooms, it was common in places a lot back in the 70's though it's not
often found in newer houses. I ran a new drop of Romex from a ceiling box
down into the switchbox and then rewired the outlet box to feed power out
the wire that originally went to the switch. Does it meet code? I'm not
really sure, probably not, but most importantly it's safe, and of course
it
works.

Some parts of the electrical code are very nitpicky and other bits depend
on
locality. I know what I'm doing and I do my own wiring safely, though
after
seeing how the downstairs of my house was wired by the original owner and
gradually redoing nearly all of it I'm very hesitant to recommend someone
does their own wiring unless they truly understand it. I found switches on
neutrals, wires cut so short they pulled out of backwired outlets and
switches when I pulled them out of boxes, wire nuts that fell off at a
touch, ground wires tangled together without a crimp or a wirenut,
excessively stripped wires with bare sections hanging out, you name it.

"bill murn" wrote in message
...

I'm in a
25

year old building in which there is no separate grounding wire in the
electrical

wiring. Does this mean that the neutral serves as the ground?

No. It means nothing is grounded, unless via the conduit or the metal
sheathing of the cables (BX etc). Not a happy thought but that's how they
did it.


except that this old panel does not have a main circuit cut-off
breaker.

How would a professional electrician work on this wiring if he could not
turn off

the power?

Quite carefully.

How would I wire the duplex to the panel when it is live?

Don't try it.
--
N