Wiring a Ceiling Light

[harrisor]

Hello Fellow GJers,

I know this is a bit off topic for that I apologize. The house I live in, the way our bedrooms are setup is a electrical outlet that is tied into a switch at the room opening gets power when you flip the switch. While the bottom receptacle has constant power.

What I want to do is to install ceiling lights instead of having a lamp to light the rooms. I am not sure how the wire layout is, but is it possible to remove the wire from the switch to the outlet and rewire it through the roof (if code applicable) to energize the ceiling light? Any thoughts, ideas, or what could be easiest to do this is all appreciated.

I will attach a rough sketch of the layout, but again I am unaware of the wire layout throughout the house.

Thank you for your time and help,

Robert

 

[Kevro]

It's hard to say without knowing what the wires are doing inside the walls. The switch box may or may not have a neutral going to it, and if not, you can't power the light from there.

IANAE, but it sounds like the easiest thing to do would be to run some 14/2 from the switched top receptacle up to the new fixture. That solution would keep the receptacle switched. If you want to convert the switched receptacle to always hot, you'd have to do some more splicing inside that box.

 

[Ferrino]

Did you manage to figure this out? I have the same arrangement in our new place and I'd really like the switch to operate a ceiling-light instead of an outlet-connected lamp. Thanks!

 

[Zeke]

You could run a hot to the new ceiling box and use a fan that comes with a remote for the light (usually dim-able) and the fan with 3 speeds.

 

[Sr. WiNdTeCh]

It's hard to say without knowing what the wires are doing inside the walls. The switch box may or may not have a neutral going to it, and if not, you can't power the light from there.

IANAE, but it sounds like the easiest thing to do would be to run some 14/2 from the switched top receptacle up to the new fixture. That solution would keep the receptacle switched. If you want to convert the switched receptacle to always hot, you'd have to do some more splicing inside that box.

exactly right, if you dont want the receptical switched get a new one and leave the jumper installed. Make sure your using the same wire size dont just grab 14/2. If its on a 20amp breaker and all 12 gauge and you throw in 14 gauge, you now have a problem.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'm currently mapping out my breakers, switches and outlets in the house. I picked up a new wiring guide book from Lowes. It's called Tauton's 'Wiring Complete' (Revised Edition).

Things are explained pretty simple and there are great photos for taking care of electrical around the house. It's worth picking up and it might shed some light on what your options are rewiring your switches.