Red Wire in Ceiling Light Outlet
 

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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.

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

"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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.


Typically, the red wire goes to a switch to power the fan motor (that way, you
can control the lights and the fan separately). If your builder did the job
right, you have a duplex box (one big enough for two switches) with the cover
having one switch and one blank (with the expectation that if you install a fan,
you also install the switch). The red wire should go from the switch box to
the outlet box, and most likely is just unconnected at either end at the moment.
Capping never hurts, but it shouldn't be necessary.

The red is likely a spare that runs to the switch box so that you'd
have a seperate wire to work a light independent of the fan. Did you
check to find the other end?

I'm guessing the red wire is not connected at the switch end. I tried to
use it as the hot source for the light, but it didn't work. Only the black
wire worked.

I will check the switch end and make sure that the red wire isn't connected.
I'll probably cap it too, just to be safe.

What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.


"Andy Hill" wrote in message
...
"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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.


Typically, the red wire goes to a switch to power the fan motor (that way,
you
can control the lights and the fan separately). If your builder did the
job
right, you have a duplex box (one big enough for two switches) with the
cover
having one switch and one blank (with the expectation that if you install
a fan,
you also install the switch). The red wire should go from the switch
box to
the outlet box, and most likely is just unconnected at either end at the
moment.
Capping never hurts, but it shouldn't be necessary.

"Unknown" wrote:
What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.

I'd run a grounded pigtail over to frame ground screw (anything metallic that
even has the slightest chance of being accidentally energized really needs to be
grounded -- better a blown breaker than a dead body). You may have to use a
slightly larger wirenut to connect all three conductors (the incoming ground,
the pigtail, and the lamp ground wire) together.

When you say a grounded pigtail is that just a bare piece of copper wire
that I'd connect to the green ground screw?

So what I'm picturing is I connect this grounded pigtail, the ground from
the lamp, and the ground from the source all together with a wire nut. Then
I connect the grounded pigtail to the green ground screw. Is that right?

"Andy Hill" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote:
What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing
is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.

I'd run a grounded pigtail over to frame ground screw (anything metallic
that
even has the slightest chance of being accidentally energized really needs
to be
grounded -- better a blown breaker than a dead body). You may have to
use a
slightly larger wirenut to connect all three conductors (the incoming
ground,
the pigtail, and the lamp ground wire) together.

The ground wire in the lamp should do the job. If I understand what you are
saying the lamp then fastens to the frame with screws and it will then be
grounded too.


"Unknown" wrote in message
...
I'm guessing the red wire is not connected at the switch end. I tried to
use it as the hot source for the light, but it didn't work. Only the
black
wire worked.

I will check the switch end and make sure that the red wire isn't
connected.
I'll probably cap it too, just to be safe.

What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing
is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.


"Andy Hill" wrote in message
...
"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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.


Typically, the red wire goes to a switch to power the fan motor (that
way,
you
can control the lights and the fan separately). If your builder did
the
job
right, you have a duplex box (one big enough for two switches) with the
cover
having one switch and one blank (with the expectation that if you
install
a fan,
you also install the switch). The red wire should go from the
switch
box to
the outlet box, and most likely is just unconnected at either end at the
moment.
Capping never hurts, but it shouldn't be necessary.

"Unknown" wrote:
"Andy Hill" wrote in message
.. .
"Unknown" wrote:
What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing
is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.

I'd run a grounded pigtail over to frame ground screw (anything metallic
that
even has the slightest chance of being accidentally energized really needs
to be
grounded -- better a blown breaker than a dead body). You may have to
use a
slightly larger wirenut to connect all three conductors (the incoming
ground,
the pigtail, and the lamp ground wire) together.

When you say a grounded pigtail is that just a bare piece of copper wire
that I'd connect to the green ground screw?

So what I'm picturing is I connect this grounded pigtail, the ground from
the lamp, and the ground from the source all together with a wire nut. Then
I connect the grounded pigtail to the green ground screw. Is that right?

Exactly.

Excellent. Thanks so much for your help.

"Andy Hill" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote:
"Andy Hill" wrote in message
. ..
"Unknown" wrote:
What about the green ground screw on the light frame? Currently nothing
is
connected to it. There was one bare copper ground wire coming from the
outlet box. I connected it to the ground wire in the lamp.

I'd run a grounded pigtail over to frame ground screw (anything metallic
that
even has the slightest chance of being accidentally energized really
needs
to be
grounded -- better a blown breaker than a dead body). You may have to
use a
slightly larger wirenut to connect all three conductors (the incoming
ground,
the pigtail, and the lamp ground wire) together.

When you say a grounded pigtail is that just a bare piece of copper wire
that I'd connect to the green ground screw?

So what I'm picturing is I connect this grounded pigtail, the ground from
the lamp, and the ground from the source all together with a wire nut.
Then
I connect the grounded pigtail to the green ground screw. Is that right?

Exactly.

"Unknown" wrote in message
. ..
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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.
The red wire is for the fan. Didn't you kinda know that?
Yes, the red wire should be capped. If you turned the fan switch on, and
the red wire were near a ground, and it sparked, and if that spark hit
something easily inflamable... Sure, that is just about impossible, but the
red wire should be capped to prevent it.

Your ceiling fixture should have a green wire that attaches to the green
screw in the box. The odds of it mattering are really small, but it should
be done properly.

"Unknown" wrote in message
. ..
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?

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.

Am I going to burn my house down? 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.
The red wire is for the fan. Didn't you kinda know that?
Yes, the red wire should be capped. If you turned the fan switch on, and
the red wire were near a ground, and it sparked, and if that spark hit
something easily inflamable... Sure, that is just about impossible, but the
red wire should be capped to prevent it.

Your ceiling fixture should have a green wire that attaches to the green
screw in the box. The odds of it mattering are really small, but it should
be done properly.