The manufacturers of the light switches create little modules inside of the switch that create some resistance when a user presses the transmitter. Enter the dimmer switch a handy electrical component that lets you adjust light levels from nearly dark to fully lit by simply turning a knob or sliding a lever.
How Should I Connect My New Light Switches Home
How do light switches work. As it turns out the inner workings are pretty cool and surprising. A person intending to do any troubleshooting should be able to identify what theyre dealing with since the wiring is very different for each one. Single pole light switches. The most common household switches are the single pole switch the three way switch and the double pole switch. Here a resistor is required to properly power the lamp. A three way switch is used when you want to control a light fixture from two wall locations such as.
The other is controlled by the switch which directly feeds the power to the lamp. Most conventional light switches are configured using a classic 2 wire circuit. A two way light switch requires a three way cable three wires plus ground four conductors in all to be run in order for the light to be switched from any station. In this article well look inside one of these everyday devices to find out how it controls lamp fixtures. So when the light switch is off it breaks the connection of the hot wire so that power cant get to the light fixture. This consists of two wires hot and ground.
However a light switch is installed in line with that hot wire. Isolated circuit wired in line with switch actuation in this picture a resistor is wired to the positive lamp terminal from the normally open switch terminal. The force against this resistance is what create just a spark of energy just enough energy to send one tiny little signal. The receiver is the part of the setup that does require. How does a light switch work. A single pole switch is one that just turns the lights off or on from one wall location.
This means that at any time either switch may be upside down so that its on in the down position or off in the up position. One is a permanent live feed from your mains power to the switch. The switch simply opens off or closes on the connection between the two terminals on the switch. Adding in a second light switch. When the switch is turned on the hot wire is reconnected thus supplying power to the light fixture. When the switch is on current flows along the black wire through the switch to the light and then returns to ground through the white wire to complete the circuit.
Gallery of How Do Light Switches Work
