I am making some changes to lights over vanity area and ran into something that raised a couple of questions. There are currently two vanity fixtures, each fixture has approx. 200watts, and the original wiring had two (one for each light fixture) separate cables and separate wire paths through the studs to a single switch. This was in spite of the fact that the fixtures are only approx. 4 feet apart and the switch is only another approx. 6 feet away. It seems that it would have been easier and cheaper to just run them in parallel on one cable as I don't think there would be enough voltage drop for these dimensions and wattages to make any difference. Am I missing something - was this required by code or was this just someone's preference?
Second question, I'm keeping those two fixture locations and associated wiring, but will be adding three additional small sconces in same wall on a separate switch. As I mentioned, those existing fixtures utilize two separate series of holes through the wall studs to travel to the two fixtures. I plan to just wire up my three sconces parallel on one cable, but am I allowed to run my new cable through those existing holes along with the existing cables so that I don't have to make my wall studs look like swiss cheese by adding even more holes for the my new wire run? I think the limit for a 2 x 4 is 7/16" dia. hole and I believe that is what is currently there, so should easily accomodate another wire, but I can't seem to find any discussion of limitations for running multiple wires through a single hole in the studs. Is that acceptable? Thanks for your assistance.
Second question, I'm keeping those two fixture locations and associated wiring, but will be adding three additional small sconces in same wall on a separate switch. As I mentioned, those existing fixtures utilize two separate series of holes through the wall studs to travel to the two fixtures. I plan to just wire up my three sconces parallel on one cable, but am I allowed to run my new cable through those existing holes along with the existing cables so that I don't have to make my wall studs look like swiss cheese by adding even more holes for the my new wire run? I think the limit for a 2 x 4 is 7/16" dia. hole and I believe that is what is currently there, so should easily accomodate another wire, but I can't seem to find any discussion of limitations for running multiple wires through a single hole in the studs. Is that acceptable? Thanks for your assistance.