Electrical Switches

mckain87

I currently have some rooms that have electrical switches that control outlets and a few that control lights in rooms that are look several rooms away. Is there any directions on line or anywher I can look to find some good directions on how to change my switchs from controlling outlets to controling the light fixutres in the room? Any advice will help. Thanks guys!

Zach

Gensetter

No. This type of thing needs to be done specific to your house and the way the electric was installed. There are some wacky things done, no one could guess what is going on until you spell out the specifics.

mckain87

I do not know a whole lot about electrical. All I know is they wired switches in the rooms to be connected to outlets and not the ceiling fixtures.

stickboy1375

By code you need a switched outlet (a receptacle or a light fixture) in every room, you got what someone was willing to pay for... you are far better off hiring an electrician at this point to make any changes you see fit.

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Gensetter

You are going to have to learn some aspects of electric if you want to do this yourself, especially if you want to do it safely. You are also going to have to describe the exact situation and many specifics about your house since you may need to re-wire some things.

If you are not prepared to do this, then it may be worth it for you to call an electrician. Some DIY things can become a hassle and not worth your time. Only you can tell

dmxtothemax

It can be done, but its not easy !
We need more info thou !
A diagram showing panel location,switchs & lights.
And what controls what ?

mckain87

Yeah i dont have any type of diagram really unless a draw one or just take pictures of things

Gensetter

Again, for the third time, you gotta describe EVERYTHING in order for us to help you. We need descriptions, pictures will help but we still need good descriptions.

mckain87

Ok. Well this about descriptive as I can get. If this isn't enough maybe I will just get an electrician. In the picture the switch panel on the left wall to the left of the door middle switch controls the outlet that you can see to the right of the door in the middle of the picture. I want to leave that outlet powerd on but run the fan/lamp that you see over head by the switch that currently controls that outlet.

Gensetter

What is above this room? What is below it?


If you take the fan down, there is a chance that you will have a switch leg in there that isn't being used. Sometimes they run a 3-wire thru a receptacle and up to the light. If there is a switch leg up in the light box, this will be easy. If not, then you may have to do some rewiring.

mckain87

Above it is a knee wall storage room and below is slab. I dont remember exatly what is under the fan but I did put the fan up and do not remember any extra wires not used.

Gensetter

Alright, well you may have to rewire it. Look up in the knee wall attic and see if you can find any wires coming from the area directly above where the switches are. If you can find the switch leg, then you can splice into it here. If not, you will have to snake down to the switch box.

Then go and see if you have access above the fan box. This is where you need to bring the switch leg over to.

mckain87

I can access the fan receptacle but I cannot get to the switch wires. They are in a wall that is apart if a closet. Unless they ran from the attic space that is even up hire but I look and could not find the wires running down.

Greg_R

You need to figure out where the fan electrical wire goes. A stud finder w. electrical function may help trace it. I would start by looking at the switch wall plates... many times they just tie in the fan wire there (before the switch). If that's the case then you just need to replace the box (w. a 3 gang) & add a switch.

mckain87

Ok. It looks like the fan electrical was spliced with another solid single black wire that runs down the wall and goes down to where another outlet is 10 feet away in the same room