Electrical wiring / light switch question

[flavio]

I just moved into a new place and there are a couple switches in the house that annoyingly turn on more than one thing at a time. One of them is in the bathroom where the switch turns on the light and a real loud fan at the same time. The fan is great when your taking a shower but I don't like that it turns on every time I go in there.

Anyone know what would be involved in making them two seperate switches?

 

[morkinva]

Assuming the wiring is new enough, there will be a black and white wire going to the fan from the switch. The white wires of the switch and light are probably tied together with a wirenut. Turn off the power at the fusebox that works the fan/light combo. Then take off the switch plate and remove the switch from the switchbox. Find out which one of the black wires goes to the fan (you'll probably need to reapply power to accomplish this). This is the wire that you need to run through the new switch you will install. If there is no more room in the switchbox, then you can get a double switch which is the same size as a normal switch. Label everything if you think there is a possibility of confusion.

The black wire from the fan goes to the brass screw of the new switch. You need to get power to the other screw of the new switch. You should be able to tap the other side of the old switch (where the black wire wasn't hooked up) and jumper a wire from there to the new switch. Or you can find the source of this point and use wire nuts to jumper a wire. Be sure to use a wire of 12 or 14 gauge, whatever is already there.

edit>> in the meantime, you should be able to unplug the fan to keep it off altogether. Carefully pull down the fan cover, and there will be a plug there for you to remove.

 

[JC]

I had the same prob in my house, but the fan got its power from the light, so I had to run new romex from the fan down to the new double switch. Hope you're luckier

JC

 

[Ornery]

How about wiring a pull chain switch up to the fan?

 

[JC]

Originally posted by: Ornery
How about wiring a pull chain switch up to the fan?

Aw, that's so primitive....so easy......

 

[Ornery]

It's so easy, but I've been putting it off so long, I lost the switch I purchased for that purpose! God, I'm the worst procrastinator on the planet!

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: Ornery
It's so easy, but I've been putting it off so long, I lost the switch I purchased for that purpose! God, I'm the worst procrastinator on the planet!

I still have the GFI outlets I bought the DAY BEFORE I moved into the house over a year ago:Q But I do know where they are

 

[flavio]

Thanks guys!

I took the wallplate off and it does appear that they are wired together at the switch. It is now a combination outlet/switch so I guess I need an outlet/double-switch which I hope isn't hard to find.

The other similar issue is my hall light an porch light are wired together which I'm assuming I just need a to replace with a double-switch.

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: flavio
Thanks guys!

I took the wallplate off and it does appear that they are wired together at the switch. It is now a combination outlet/switch so I guess I need an outlet/double-switch which I hope isn't hard to find.

The other similar issue is my hall light an porch light are wired together which I'm assuming I just need a to replace with a double-switch.

Nope, just use the same outlet & then get a double switch to replace the single switch. You'll then need a 4outlet faceplate for when you're done.
If you don't need the outlet (don't know if there are any others in the direct vicinity) you could just replace the outlet with a switch as well. All household wiring is pretty standardized, so you can be pretty creative (just make sure you wire it up correctly, although it is quite easy, mistakes can be painful ).

Hall light & porch light might be the exact same situation. Only one way to tell