The black hot connection is broken to turn the light onoff the white neutral connection completes the circuit. The most common requirement of any hardwired automated light switch is a neutral wire.
One Way Light Switch
Neutral wire light switch. A switch box with no neutral loop will usually only have three wires see image below. Ge mytouchsmart wifi smart light switch 3 waysingle pole works with alexa google assistant 24ghz no hub needed neutral wire required white light almond 40792 38 out of 5 stars 136 2832 28. The bare hopefully solid copper wire is the ground. The third wire should be the ground wire and is usually colored green or bare wire. You will find 3 wires a black hot a copper bare and a white which is your neutral wire. Because the electrical code as of the 2011 nec update requires a neutral wire in most new switch boxes a 3 wire cable runs between the light and switch.
The most common requirement of any hardwired automated light switch is a neutral wire. Then pull the switch out of the electrical box. They will usually be colored one black and one white potentially with black stripe. Wiring a single pole light switch. This is a diagram of a switch with a neutral. It remains has power when the switch is in the on mode.
The neutral wire allows the completion of the circuit and the switch to have power even when its turned to the off position when you want the lights off. This is because the neutral wire for the circuit is actually in the junction box that holds the light fixture and the two wires coming down to the switch are the hot leg that will power the. Without this neutral wire in place the circuit is broken any time the switch is now in the off position. The neutral wire provides continuous power to the leviton smart light switch or dimmer and is required to power the communication radio keep time and control the load. Two of the wires will be the current carrying wires that power the light. Yes there are a fewread very very very few switches that dont require a neutral but those will limit you to incandescent only.
Even when the load is off. In this case the neutral white wires are connected inside the switch box. The switch still breaks the circuit but in this case the smart switch can tap into the neutral wire to keep power flowing through the switch the electronics in the switch still break the circuit to the light but the switch maintains a circuit so it is always receiving power. To install your neutral wire in your switch youll need to remove the wall plate by removing the screws that hold it in place. For those of us using led fluorescent or some other energy efficient bulbs under 20w a neutral is required. The red and black are used for hot and the white neutral wire at the switch box allows for powering a timer remote control or other programmable switch.
Gallery of Neutral Wire Light Switch
