thomasd87
DIY
Electrical isn't my thing though I know just enough to get me into trouble thinking I can do it after coming up with grand ideas.
When I bought my house, it was an older house with the typical cloth two wire wiring. There was one new 3 wire that had been ran to a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom that isn't being used I guess years before I bought the house though. My living room had no light/ceiling fan. I had an electrician buddy who's no longer around come and he installed me a ceiling fan with 4 wire to control the light and fan separately. He tapped into the wiring in the ceiling going to the tub and I guess it's locked up somewhere in a junction box.
I'm now wanting to add a second switch and add 4 small led recessed lights in the living room. My plan was to tap off the wiring to the switch that he used for the ceiling fan. This is where my dilemma begins. I pulled the switch plate cover off and I'm always used to seeing two separate wires coming into the box, the main wire and then the wire to the light with the neutrals tied off in a wire nut. In this case it's only one wire so with no electrical training it's a bit beyond my level of expertise.
I don't know how to tap in to the wiring here and run it to the switch to power the new lights I want to install and I certainly dont want to blow something up or cause a safety issue. Is my plan even possible or does it require more expert assistance?
I've attached a diagram to hopefully provide better visual explanation.
The most interesting thing for me is the fact that the White wire appears to be the hot wire. When I turn everything off, the white wire is the only thing reading hot on my voltmeter.
When I bought my house, it was an older house with the typical cloth two wire wiring. There was one new 3 wire that had been ran to a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom that isn't being used I guess years before I bought the house though. My living room had no light/ceiling fan. I had an electrician buddy who's no longer around come and he installed me a ceiling fan with 4 wire to control the light and fan separately. He tapped into the wiring in the ceiling going to the tub and I guess it's locked up somewhere in a junction box.
I'm now wanting to add a second switch and add 4 small led recessed lights in the living room. My plan was to tap off the wiring to the switch that he used for the ceiling fan. This is where my dilemma begins. I pulled the switch plate cover off and I'm always used to seeing two separate wires coming into the box, the main wire and then the wire to the light with the neutrals tied off in a wire nut. In this case it's only one wire so with no electrical training it's a bit beyond my level of expertise.
I don't know how to tap in to the wiring here and run it to the switch to power the new lights I want to install and I certainly dont want to blow something up or cause a safety issue. Is my plan even possible or does it require more expert assistance?
I've attached a diagram to hopefully provide better visual explanation.
The most interesting thing for me is the fact that the White wire appears to be the hot wire. When I turn everything off, the white wire is the only thing reading hot on my voltmeter.
- TL;DR
- Want to install recessed lights off ceiling fan switch, but don't know how to tap into the wiring at the current switch. Ive attached a diagram.
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