How to install a light switch: step-by-step instruction, diagrams and rules

Each house has switches, and not one. We all have long been accustomed to these small devices and consider them to be an integral part of our life. It may seem that they are all equally arranged and extremely simple to install. However, this is not at all the case - the devices are very diverse.

You must admit that it will not be superfluous for any home master to know which model is better to use and how to install a light switch so that the device works flawlessly.

The article is devoted to solving these issues. We will designate operational features of different switches, and also we will provide detailed instructions for installation of open, hidden and through models.

Posting: open or hidden option

Despite the fact that installing a switch may seem very simple, there are a lot of nuances that a beginner electrician needs to know.

First you need to decide on the type of wiring.

Electrical wiring is a must-have item in every home.

There are two types of it:

• Open. Wires are laid over the wall. They can be fixed with decorative rollers or closed with plastic cable channels.
• Hidden. The wire is laid inside the wall. To do this, the channels in which the cable is laid are stitched into its surface. After laying the strokes are sealed with mortar.

For each type of wiring uses a different type of switch. For an open system, select overhead models that are placed directly on the wall. They are easily recognizable because they are very visible on the surface.

This type of switches appeared the very first and has changed little over the past decades. For closed wiring, internal or embedded models are used.

They are installed in the recess, which is pre-cooked in the wall. Hole sizes are selected depending on the size of the switch. It is mounted inside the groove with the help of special legs, struts.

There is another kind of built-in appliances - with mounting plates. This option is more convenient to install. After installation, the internal switches practically do not protrude above the wall plane.

Switching wire switch method

Before you start installing the switch, you need to know that the internal fastening of the wires in the device may be different. Two switching methods are used.

Screw type clamp

The screw-type contact is tightened with a screwdriver. About 2 cm of wire is first cleared of insulation, then it is located under the terminal and fixed. It is extremely important that not a single millimeter of insulation is left under the terminal, otherwise it will begin to melt, which is very dangerous. Such a connection is especially good for aluminum wires.

They heat up during operation, which eventually leads to deformation. Contact in this case begins to warm up and spark. To solve the problem it will be enough to tighten the screw. The wires, clamped between two flat contact plates, will “snap into place” and the device will work without heating and sparking.

Non-screw type clamp

It is a contact with the pressure plate. Equipped with a special button that adjusts the position of the plate. The wire is stripped of insulation by 1 cm, after which it is inserted into the contact hole and clamped. The whole procedure is carried out very quickly and easily.

Terminal design provides high reliability of the resulting connection. Non-screw clips are best used for copper wiring.

It must be admitted that screw and non-screw clips provide approximately the same reliability and quality of connections. However, the installation is easier the second option. It is his experienced experts recommend the use of novice electricians.

Main types of switches

It has long passed the time when all models were about the same and differed only in appearance. Today, the manufacturer produces a variety of types of switches. By the type of off / on all of them can be divided into several groups.

No. 1: Keyboard devices

Very simple and reliable design. The basis of the device is a swinging mechanism, which is tightened by a spring. When you press a key, it closes the contact, which turns the electrical device on or off.

For the convenience of consumers, one, two and three-button switches are available. This makes it possible to control not only one, but several lamps at once.

No. 2: Switches or toggle switches

Outwardly, these devices are indistinguishable from their keyboard counterparts, but the principle of their action is completely different. When you press a key, the devices open one electrical circuit and transfer the contact to another.

This allows simultaneous control of lighting from two, three or even more places. Complex circuits, in which more than two switches are involved, are complemented by cross-elements.

No. 3: Dimmers or dimmers

A switch that allows you to adjust the intensity of illumination. The external panel of such a device is equipped with keys, a rotating button or infrared sensors.

The latter option assumes that the device can receive signals from the remote control. Challenging dimmers can perform several functions: activate dimming mode, simulate presence, turn off the lights at a specified time.

The selection criteria for the dimmer switch are described in this article.

No. 4: Switches with integrated motion sensor

Devices react to movement. The appearance of people is recorded by a sensor that activates the lighting and turns it off in the absence of movement. To work with the switch, an infrared sensor is used, which is able to analyze the intensity of infrared radiation and distinguish a person from other objects.

Multifunctional switches with motion sensor capable of not only turning on lighting devices, but also activating video cameras, sirens, etc.

No. 5: Touch Type Devices

Turn off / on the lights by lightly touching the sensor. Produced varieties that work when carried around their body by hand. The main difference of touch switches from traditional analogs is the presence of microcircuits.

This eliminates the risk of a short circuit, which significantly increases the service life of both the switch and the lighting device.

How to choose the "right" place under the switch

Choosing a place to install the switch is a personal matter of each owner. However, there is a set of industry requirements governing this issue. This is due to the fact that the laying of electrical wiring is quite an expensive event and it is too expensive and too complicated to redo it every time.

Experts recommend installing all switches in the house at the same height and the on position for all should be common.

The devices are usually mounted at the height of the door handles, which is well correlated with the development of muscle memory. Thus, entering the room, the person presses the key automatically, without even noticing it.

Another important point: the switch in the room should be positioned so that there is a distance of about 15-20 cm between it and the doorway. So a person will be able to take the doorknob with one hand and press a key with the other.

For living rooms it is customary to install switches only indoors. For public spaces, such as bathrooms, storerooms, or corridors, switches outside the room are most often used.

If there are small children in the house, do not “pull” the switches up. The restless period when the baby will “play about” with the light will pass very quickly, and the inconvenience of the location of the switches will remain for a long time.

General installation scheme of the switching device

Failure to follow the basic installation rules, even such a simple device as a switch, can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Among which is overheating and arcing with possible subsequent closure, as well as the voltage that is stored in the wiring.

This is fraught with electric shock even if you just need to replace the lamp when the lights are off.

Therefore, before connecting the switch, it is worth remembering the main elements of the connection:

• Zero lived. Or, in the jargon of electricians, zero. Output to the lighting device.
• Phase retracted to the switch. In order for the lamp to go out and light up, the circuit must be closed within the phase core. It is important to remember that in the opposite case of switching off the device to zero, it will work, but the voltage will remain. Therefore, to replace the lamp, for example, you have to disconnect the room from the power supply.
• Phase retracted to the lamp. When you press a key, the circuit will close or open at the break point of the phase channel. This is the name of the section where the phase wire leading to the switch ends, and the segment stretched to the light bulb begins. Thus, only one wire is supplied to the switch, and two to the lamp.

It should be remembered that any connections of conductive areas should be carried out in a junction box. It is highly undesirable to execute them in a wall or in plastic ducts, since there will certainly be complications with the identification and subsequent repair of damaged fragments.

If there is no junction box near the place where the switch is mounted, you can stretch the zero and phase from the input panel.

All the above rules apply to the one-key switch. They also apply to multi-key devices with the difference that a fragment of a phase wire from a lamp is supplied to each key, which it will control.

The phase stretched from the junction box to the switch will always be only one. This statement is true for multi-key devices.

Replacing the switch or setting it “c zero” is carried out only if there is a fully formed electrically conducting circuit.

In order not to be mistaken in working with wiring, you need to know the marking and current channel color:

• Brown or white Wire insulation is indicated by a phase conductor.
• Blue - zero vein.
• Green or yellow - grounding.

Installation and further connection is made according to these color prompts. In addition, the manufacturer can apply special markings on the wires. All connection points are indicated by the letter L and a number.

For example, on a two-button switch, the phase input is denoted as L3. On the opposite side are the points of connection of the lamps, referred to as L1 and L2. Each of them will need to bring to one of the lighting.

Procedure for installing a switch

Such devices are used for open wiring and where for any reason it is impossible to make a hidden connection.

Consider the installation procedure on the example of single-button switch complete factory assembly. To connect it you need to turn off the power supply to the apartment, and then sequentially perform the following operations.

Step 1: Disassemble the device

We take the slotted screwdriver, very carefully lift the device key and remove it. After that, just as carefully, trying not to damage, we remove the protective decorative cover. It remains for us to disconnect the working mechanism from the sub-plate. Perform this operation.

Step 2: Plan the installation location

On the base plate, the manufacturer necessarily performs the holes designed to secure the device. They need to chart on the wall. To do this, take a bottom plate, apply it to the surface and mark the line of the upper edge with a pencil.

With the help of the level we check its horizontal, otherwise we will not be able to set the switch exactly. After this, once again we attach the plate to the wall and mark the attachment points.

Step 3: Install the sub-plate

Further actions depend on the material from which the wall is made. If it is soft wood, fasten the base with galvanized screws. If the base is made of harder materials, you will have to drill holes in it.

We try to do all the work accurately, so that we don’t have to make additional holes. The plate is securely fastened to the wall.

Step 4: Connect the Wires

We determine the type of switching of contacts and in exact correspondence with it we trim and clean the wires. Sure to remove all insulationso that it does not melt later and does not cause problems with the device.

We check that the wires reach the terminals as accurately as possible, it is undesirable that excess remains. In accordance with the marking and color of the wires, we connect them with the necessary contacts.

Step 5: Assemble the device

First we need to make sure that the wires are properly connected, for which we are testing them with a multimeter screwdriver or other device. Having found out that everything is assembled correctly, we take the switch mechanism and set it in its place.

Then we return the protective decorative cover and in the last turn we latch the key. Check the operation of the device.

Installation instructions hidden switch

The design of the hidden devices differs in the shape of the bottom plate and the decorative cover. The first one is made in the form of a bowl, inside which the switch mechanism is placed. The lid has the shape of a small panel or even a frame.

Accordingly, the connection scheme of such a switch will be somewhat different. Before installation, you need to purchase an underside, which is sold separately from the switch.

You need to know that designs for brick and concrete walls are somewhat different from products intended for installation in plasterboard. Be sure to consider this when buying. Installation of the hidden switch is made in the following sequence.

Step 1: We are preparing a place for under the floor

The product should be inserted into a previously prepared niche, the dimensions of which are slightly larger than the bottom. To perform it, you need a special nozzle in the form of a crown on a punch or drill. The diameter of the crown should be slightly larger than the diameter of the bottom plate.

For double switches, two niches are made, which will then need to be interconnected. This will later fit a special double under the hood.

Step 2: Properly install the backdoor

De-energize the room. To the place of installation of the switch we bring the wires, putting them into the prepared in advance grooves. Now you can set the box and get the wiring inside it.

For this purpose, there is a special hole in the product case. We fix the construction in place. In concrete or brick, we do it with plaster, in drywall we put retaining brackets, fasten them with two self-tapping screws, twisted all the way.

Step 3: Put the switch in place

First, we disassemble the structure. We take the slotted screwdriver and carefully pry off the key with it, so that the element can be removed. Then we remove the decorative protective panel. We are left with a mechanism attached to a metal plate.

Now you need to connect the wires. We measure and trim them. You need to know that in this case it is necessary to leave a small margin of the length of each wire.

We clean the ends of the wiring and connect them, then we put it inside the sub-socket and put the switch mechanism in place. Install the mounting plate. Depending on its type, this can be done in two ways: either dilute the struts to the sides and fix them with special screws, or fix them with two screws.

After this, the tester checks the correctness of the device connection, we put on the decorative panel and put the key.

Connection of the switch

In order to correctly put the flip-over light switch, you need to accurately imagine the principle of its operation. In the simplest case, when pressing the key, the device will open one circuit and close the other.

On the reverse side of the switches of this type, the manufacturer always shows the device operation diagram. Consider the installation procedure of the simplest single-button walk-through switch.

For installation, we need a three-core cable, each of the conductors of which will be color-coded. Be sure to turn off the electricity before starting work.

Consistently perform the following operations:

1. On the pass-through switch, we determine the common terminal.
2. On the one of the switches that is located closer to the junction box, we output the phase core and connect it to the common terminal.
3. The two remaining wires are connected to the output terminals of the pass-through switch. In this case, be sure to remember what color of the core is connected to which terminal.
4. In the distribution box, we connect the phase from the luminaire to the phase wire of the second pass-through switch.
5. Guided by the color of the braid, we connect the two remaining wires with similar in color to the wires from the first switch.

After - in the junction box we find the ground and neutral wire and connect them with similar cables extending to the lamp.

We carry out all twists very carefully, if necessary we puddle and isolate all exposed sections of wires qualitatively. It is strongly not recommended to connect wires of copper and aluminum into a common twist.

Next, proceed to installation of the switch through passage, which will be similar to the above procedures. We disassemble the device, in accordance with the scheme we connect wires to it, put the mechanism in place and fix it.

Install the protective panel and the key. Now you can begin to test the performance of the collected scheme. Make sure that both switches can control the lamp. That is, each of the devices can turn off or turn on the lamp, regardless of the position of the other device.

Each of the switches of the continuous switch must turn off / on the lamp. If not, you should look for and correct the error.

A more complex variation of the one-key rocker switch is two-key device. In fact, these are two single transitional devices, assembled in a common package.

This design allows you to control multiple lamps. Connects the device with three or six-wire.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

How to install single key invoice switch:

The sequence of work when replacing the device:

Rules and the sequence of connecting the two-button switch:

Installation and connection of the switch is one of the easiest electrical work. Special knowledge and skills are practically not required here, but it is also not worthwhile to treat irresponsibly this event. Electricity does not forgive even the smallest mistakes.

Therefore, those who have no experience in carrying out such work should seek the help of specialists or more experienced home craftsmen.

Do you have practical skills in installing light switches? Share your accumulated knowledge, tell about the nuances of installation and connection, or ask questions about the topic in the comments below.