For houses where the light switch on the wall turns a certain outlet off and on (enter the room, hit the light switch on the wall, and it powers on your lamp which is already in the on position), how easy is it to change the outlet which the light switch applies to?
Can this be done (by an electrician I presume), if so, is it easy or expensive?
Also, I have those old style light switches with the narrow switch that sticks out. I would like to replace them with the new face switches that are ‘fat’ and wide. Is that an easy repair?
Changing which outlet the switch switches is likely difficult, as in tear off the drywall and run new wire difficult. There’s an outside chance it would just be changing the connections in the box at the switch, though.
Changing from old style toggles to decora type switches is very simple. A trained chimpanzee with a screwdriver could do it, providing you flipped the relevant breakers off first.
Changing the outlet operated? More involved. There is wiring running from the switch to that specific outlet, and if the newly desired outlet is far away from there, you need to get inside the wall to run new wiring. Not a crazy difficult job, but it’s not as simple as, say, changing something at the breaker box.
a person skilled (as an electrician) might be able to change which receptacle is switched with a few hours work or half a day, it’s an all depends. if you have the existing wiring in a certain configuration and number of wires it might just be putting in different connections. you could add a receptacle with not too ugly surface wiring methods. if the room was under attic or over basement then a new wire might get put in through those areas.
the fat switches can be changed by a skilled homeowner (that has read the appropriate part of a DIY electrical book) that: 1) tests for electricity at the switch, 2) turns off the breaker, 3) tests for electricity at the switch making sure there is none, 4) replace the switch following the directions.
I frequently do this before I attempt electrical work. I’ll stick both middle fingers up, and should ‘Fuck you, breakers!! I’m goin’ inta’ this beeyatch!’
A critical piece of information missing from the OP is whether the switches for the outlets you are trying to swap are in the same box or in different locations.
If they are in the same box, it is a piece of cake. Just move the wires from switch A to switch B and vice-versa.
If the switches are on opposite sides of the room, it becomes a lot more complicated, involving things like running new wires through the walls/floors/ceilings, etc. and probably punching holes and patching drywall.
ETA: Re-reading the OP, it looks like you have just one switch and want to have it control a different outlet than the one it’s already connected to. That involves my second scenario above.
If you are very very careful, you can even change a switch or outlet live. Have insulated tools, move one wire at a time unscrew and screw to new fixture, don’t let them come in contact with each other or the box; be very careful folding the wires back up to fit in the box. I changed most of the outlets in my house from 2 prong to 3 prong several years ago, and only blew up one. Nobody trained me…
IIRC, isn’t there a different switch (2 pole?) if you have 2 switches that control the same fixture? Be sure you have the right parts…
The quick and dirty way to change which outlet a switch controls, is to run a wire from the old outlet to the new location, and have it control both. As others pointed out - if you want this inside the wall and to code, (a) get an electrician to do it and (b) yes, there’s a lot of drywall work, especially if the wire is going up and over doors. It’s easier to put in a new outlet box than to use one that’s already there, because what are you going to do with the old wire to an existing box - code says you can’t just tape over the ends and leave it dangling inside the walls…
Of course, you could run the wire down inside the wall into the basement (if the basement ceiling is open) and then back up inside the wall where you want the new controlled outlet. That’s a lot less drywall work. When it comes time to sell your house, nothing screams “Danger! MacGyver was here!” like the building inspector finding funny electrical wiring afterthoughts running around the house.
It’s possible that the electrician that wired the room used a 3 conductor daisy chain, and if so it might be fairly to switch which receptacle is switchable.
I gutted and rewired my house and all the bedrooms were wired with 12/3. Each bedroom had switchable outlets near the nightstand, and with that extra conductor the room could be reconfigured easily in the future.
When you have an old house, 20 breakers, no documentation and no help, it’s a pain to figure the right one and then reset all the flashing clocks. At least with outlets you could hook up a loud radio (if anyone still has one!) and listen for it to go off if you can hear it over the furnace and outside traffic noise. Not as simple with lights.
I work alongside commercial electricians a fair bit, and pretty much all of them are happy to work on live circuits. 120vac that’s where you expect it to be isn’t too dangerous. In their line of work, it’s the 240 or 600 that’s where you don’t expect it to be that’s dangerous, like the story one told me about a 240v hot running on a conduit he grabbed when he lost balance on a step ladder. :eek:
That said, unless there’s a good reason not to turn off the breaker it’s just stupid not to, especially for someone without a lot of experience working on live circuits. It’s way too freaking easy for the black wire to brush against the edge of the box, or any number of other things. I can’t think of a good reason to work on a live circuit in a residential plugs/switches context. Turn the breaker off.
working on live electrical circuits greater than 110V is a deadly hazard. you need to have good knowledge of electricity, good knowledge of your circuits, good protection equipment, good coordination with alertness and good lighting with vision. a slight change in circumstances can change an acceptable hazard to very risky hazard.
when working with a live electrical circuits greater than 110V, if you see a spark, blow a fuse, blow up a device, melt anything then that is a reminder that you could have died if circumstances were just slightly different.
You’ll spend a lot of money tearing into your walls to rewire a switched wall outlet. Then you have to patch the drywall and repaint.
You can get a wireless wall switch for $27. No installation needed. Takes 5 minutes to get it working. I used one like this for over 5 years in my last apartment.
The extra time it takes being careful with working on a hot circuit could exceed the minute it takes to turn the breaker off.
Not labeled? A baseball bat to the head of anybody that installs a circuit and doesn’t label it. I have spent hours cleaning up after people that took money for the job. They weren’t professionals.
I’m currently investigating this exact issue in our home. I’ve opened up the outlets and noticed the switch has 12/3 wiring, and the outlet the switch is controlling also has 12/3 wiring. The other 3 outlets in the room have 12/2 wiring but seem to be configured differently. Is there any chance I can reconfigure this to have the switch work with the other wires? FWIW I’m a newbie DIYer.
switches can have 12/3 wiring used to control one of the two hot wires (usually black or red in USA) where a receptacle can be all or partially switched from the wall switch and other receptacles on all the time.
another case where a switch could have a 3 wire cable to it is in a 3-way or 4-way switching where the lights/receptacles are controlled from more than one switch…
are there only 2 wires connected to each switch or 3 or 4? how you stated things has some ambiguity.
The new outlet that you are wanting to switch will have to have a wire from the switch going to the outlet. If the new outlet is down stream from the presently switched outlet and the power comes into the presently switched out let splits and goes to the down stream outlets ond the switch then you have a chance. But if the switch box has only one romex comming into it then where it goes is where it goes. And that would mean the switched outlet box would have to have 3 romex wires comming into it.
Professional electricians do not use the screw terminals on switches and outlets - they “back wire” them - strip off the length of insulation (the little groove on the back is a strip gauge -now you know) required and stick the bare wire into the little holes on the back of the device.
If you run into this, use a small stick of some sort to poke into the hole near the wire - that releases the spring terminal holding the wire.
Or, if there is enough slack, just cut off the wire at the back and strip a new bit.
Note:
If you are on a 20 amp (or larger) circuit, the wire will probably not fit your new Home Depot switch - their holes will take a 14 ga or smaller wire - a 20 amp circuit will use 12 ga.
For the first time since high school, I am reduced to using the screw terminals - I refuse to string anything smaller than 12 ga except speaker wire and lamps.
Professional electricians do not use the screw terminals on switches and outlets - they “back wire” them - strip off the length of insulation (the little groove on the back is a strip gauge -now you know) required and stick the bare wire into the little holes on the back of the device.
If you run into this, use a small stick of some sort to poke into the hole near the wire - that releases the spring terminal holding the wire.
Or, if there is enough slack, just cut off the wire at the back and strip a new bit.
QUOTE]
I can not remember removing a light switch or outlet and finding wires in the hole in the back. That is unless the switch or outlet has the screw clamp hole in the back. And I have been working maintenance for over 40 years. Working for colleges, retail stores, and high rise office buildings.
