How to add an outlet to an electrical?

Question

I have a switch which controlls a light bulb. I want to add an electrical outlet in same location, so that I can plug in an appliance too.

I want to know how to do the electrical wiring. I understand that switch will have only 2 existing wires, so adding an outlet would mean adding additional wires.....

Answer 1

No offense meant to other answers.

From the "switch", and after determining the location of the receptacle. Install a box, remove the White wire from the switch. Splice it to the WHITE that exists otherwise, forming that part of the "circuit"

From the switch, add enough BLACK to run to the receptacle, attaching it, as well as the Opposing, other black, that runs elsewhere through that circuit, attached in continuity to the receptacle.

Before doing any of this certainly turn off the breaker to that circuit, BUT/AND check the amps load on the breaker. Precaution will allow that it won't trip if it happens to be a 15 AMP and you have lights on, and plus in appliances drawing more than the breaker can handle,,, IE: Vacuum cleaner drawing 13 AMPS, and other appliances.

Steven Wolf

Answer 2

There are several answer already, but I have a different point of view on some areas of the answer.

As pointed out, turn off the breaker before working on this project. After turning off the breaker, make sure the light does NOT work. This verifies you have the correct breaker off. Do NOT, absolutley NOT assume that any other wire you see is also on the same breaker.

Do NOT assume that the wire colors are correct. They probably are, but a mistake can be fatal, to you, not just to the project.

The two hardest parts of this are the physical mounting of the box for the new outlet and getting a neutral and a ground wire to the new outlet. They make special boxes for "old work" that can make mounting the new box easier. All hardware and lumber yards should carry them.

Before you turn off the breaker to start the work, put a volt meter on the switch to determine which side of the switch is hot. If you don't understand that terminology, you don't know enough to safely do this job so I won't use lay terms here. I will tell you that the volt meter goes between the switch and a water faucet or the ground side of a nearby outlet, whichever is easier.

Again, if you don't understand that last paragraph completely, don't attempt this project, there is too much danger.

Do you know which side of the outlet is for the hot (black) wire and which is for the neutral (white) wire and where the ground (green) wire goes? You should already know that it does make an important difference. If you don't already know, this project is not safe for you to do, as stated above.

Yes, I could expalin it, but then it would be encouraging you to do a project that is potentially dangerous to you. I believe that is a dis-service because of the danger.This is a self help group, so helping someone do something that can result in their death if done incorrectly is not really helping them.

Getting the neutral and the ground side can be very difficult. If you have an unfinished basement, you can drill a hole in the base plate and run the new neutral and ground wires through there. The only proper place to connect to the neutral is on the same circuit that the light is on. It is often impossible to find that circuit, however. You can try to find the wiring in the ceiling, but that is often impossible.

The ground wire can go the breaker box or another ground wire. Either is safe. The neutral wire should go to the breaker box, but my personal opinion is that any neutral wire you can tap into is okay. That is NOT legal, but again, I think it is safe and that the code is too conservative.

Be sure to use a GFI if you are within 6 feet of a sink or faucet.

Answer 3

If you mean you want to add an outlet beside the switch, well, you first would need to be familar with the existing wiring and the wiring codes.

If conduit was used, then the simplest way may be to find which of the two wires on the switch is the hot wire. Remove that wire and attach two more black wires (correct color for hot wire in 120v residential wiring). One would go back to the switch, and the other would go to the right side of your outlet. Then find a neutral (white) wire, like back at the light fixture and connect a white wire to it and run it to the outlet box, and put it on the left side of the outlet. Also find a ground wire and do the same. Run the wires through the conduit.

If a conduit is not used, there are several options. One is to find the nearest outlet and run a piece of "romex" in the walls between it and the new outlet.

Or create a new branch circuit. If there is room for a new breaker in the box, put one in. You'd run the black wire to the breaker, and the white and green/bare ones to the terminal block inside the panel box. Then you would run your romex wire inside the walls to your outlet box and put the black wire on the right, the white one on the left, and the green/bare one at the bottom.

Of course, if any of the above confuses you or makes no sense, then buy a wiring book or contract a licensed electrician. Otherwise, use an adapter in the light socket.

Oh, I just read the update. Well, you would need to a ground and a neutral. One of the existing wires is the hot wire, the other goes to the light. You may be able to pick those additional wires off of the light fixture.

Oh, and I found an error in another answer. The black wire is the hot wire, not the white one. The white one is neutral which is connected to the ground wire back at the panel box. At the box, the red and the black wires are hot wires. Measuring across those will give you around 220-240 volts. Measuring from either the red or the black to the white (the center-tapped wire of the transformer which runs to a terminal block inside the panel box itself), you should get 110-120 volts. In a properly wired light, the black wire runs from the circuit breaker to the light switch. Then from the other side of the switch to the light fixture. The white wire (and any ground wires) runs back to the panel box and attaches to the terminal block inside the panel box.

Something I do to verify the polarity is to measure the voltage on both wires to ground (use 250 VAC or higher AC setting). Which ever wire causes the meter to move is the hot wire (and should be black). I find that those who are confused about the wire colors of AC wiring has usually done extensive DC wiring. In a car, the equivalent of the neutral wire is not white, it is black, and the hot wire is red. In AC wiring both the red and the black are considered hot, and the center-tapped wire is considered neutral.

Answer 4

you can find such a thing at places like Lowes and the Home Depot. they contian a 110v wall outlet with a switch above it.