Fan / Light Combination Fixture Switch Circuits
Switched Separately
2011 NEC Compliant
Power Source at Switch
For those that live where the new 2011 NEC code is in effect, please read
‘2011 NEC New Rule ‘Switch Connections’
If this applies to you, the switch wiring options that is in compliance with this new rule will be indicated bellow as ‘2011 NEC compliant’
2011 NEC Compliant Circuit
Connections Instructions:
(as depicted in the diagrams above)
At the Fixture box…
One cable entering this box coming from switch.
- a) connect the white wire coming from switch to the fixture itself (grounded conductor [neutral]).
- b) connect the black wire coming from switch to the switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light (shown as black in diagram)
- c) connect red wire coming from switch to switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan (shown as red in diagram)
- d) please see under important notes in regards to the equipment grounding conductor (bare wire).
At switch box…
Two cables entering this box, one coming from fixture, and one is the ‘circuit power supply cable’.
- a) using an insulated wire nut connect / join the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire from ‘circuit power supply cable’.
- b) connect the black wire coming from fixture to the one of the main screw of one of the switches (this will switch the light of the fan/light combo fixture)
- c) connect the red wire coming from fixture to the one of the main screws of the other switch (this will switch the fan of the fan/light combo fixture).
- d) using an insulated wire nut connect / join the black wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’ + two black wires going to the remaining main screw of both switches.
- e) please see under important notes in regards to the equipment grounding conductor (bare wire).
Important Notes:
By electrical codes you MUST have at least 6 inches of wire in the electrical box itself, and also the wire must be able to reach at least 3 inches outside the box, it can fail an electrical inspection if the required min. wire length is not met. You may have the wires a bit longer (within reason) but they cannot be shorter. Also see the note on box fill further down in this article.
Use wire nuts of the correct size to join wires together. For fan / light combination fixtures, most likely it will have wire connections, the white wire is the grounded conductor (neutral) and connects to the white wire coming from switch, any green wires are equipment grounding conductors, then there will be two other wires one will be the switched ungrounded conductor (hot) for the light, and one will be the switched ungrounded conductor (hot) for the fan. If you are confused please post to our forums for further clarification.
What is not shown in the drawings to avoid confusion, is that each wire cable also has a bare equipment grounding wire included. This wire is connected to a grounding screw in each electrical box (if the box is metal), joined either through the grounding screws in the box itself or via a wire nut to the bare wire of the next cable entering / exiting the box, it is also connected to any grounding screw (if there is one) on the switch itself, as well as any grounding screw at the fixture (green wires that attach to the fixture are grounds). Now if using a plastic box, it is made of a material that is non conductive, however some plastic boxes have a metal strip inside that can still be used to connect equipment grounding wires, in the event that it does not use wire nuts to join the bare grounding wires together. The equipment grounding wire (bare in most cables) must be electrical conductively joined throughout the circuit. Green wires are also equipment grounding conductors.
If there is an equipment grounding screw on the switch it may be green in color and be separated away from the main connections of the switch and likely part of the metal frame that is also part of the mounting structure of the switch.
Extensions to this Switch circuit…
Be Aware that there is a limit by code on how many wires can be in a given size electrical box, when adding more wires to the same box you may have to install a larger and / or deeper box to allow space for more wires coming and out of the box.
Here is an article / explanation in regards to box fill calculations ‘Box Fill Calculation’
The instructions here are based on the fact that the circuit has already been wired to the configuration shown in this article and we are now making the wiring changes for onward power.
From the switch locations….
Both onward switched power and always on power is available at the switch location.
(showing bellow the fixture portion of the circuit)
Option 1 – Onward switched power controlled from light switch
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (switched from light switch)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from switch (that switches the light) + the black wire coming from fixture.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 2 – Onward switched power controlled from fan switch
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (switched from fan switch)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from switch (that switches the fan) + the red wire coming from fixture.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 3 – Two onward switched power controlled from both switches.
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (two switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from switch (that switches the light) + the black wire coming from fixture.
- c) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from switch (that switches the fan) + the red wire coming from fixture.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light switch.
Red – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 4 – Onward always on power and Onward switched power controlled from light switch.
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (always on & switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’ + two black wires going to one main screw of both switches.
- c) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from switch (that switches the light) + the black wire coming from fixture.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – ungrounded conductor (hot – always on).
Red – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 5 – Onward always on power and Onward switched power controlled from fan switch.
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (always on & switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’ + two black wires going to one main screw of both switches.
- c) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from switch (that switches the fan) + the red wire coming from fixture.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – ungrounded conductor (hot – always on).
Red – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 6 – Onward always on power only
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (always on)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’ + two black wires going to one main screw of both switches.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – ungrounded conductor (hot – always on).
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 7 – Onward always on & 2 switched power….
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the switch electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (switched)
(using a 4 wire [plus bare] onward wire cable)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from fixture + the white wire coming from ‘circuit power supply cable’
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the blue wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from the ‘circuit power supply cable’ + two black wires going to one main screw of both switches.
- c) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from fixture + the black wire connected to one of the main screws of light switch.
- d) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from fixture+ the red wire connected to one of the main screws of fan switch.
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Blue – ungrounded conductor (hot – always on).
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot – controlled by light switch).
Red – switched ungrounded conductor (hot – controlled by fan switch).
From the fixture location…
Only switched power is available at the fixture location.
(showing bellow the fixture portion of the circuit)
Option 1 – Onward switched power controlled from light switch
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the fixture electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from switch + the white wire connected to fixture (grounded conductor [neutral])
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from switch + the black wire connected to fixture (for light – switched ungrounded conductor [hot])
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Onward switched power controlled from fan switch
Option 2 – Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the fixture electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from switch + the white wire connected to fixture (grounded conductor [neutral])
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from switch + the red wire connected to fixture (for fan – switched ungrounded conductor [hot])
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan switch
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Option 3 – Two onward switched power from both switches.
Not shown in the diagram but the onward cable also has a bare wire (equipment grounding conductor) that also must be connected to all the other bare wires at the fixture electrical box.
Connection Instructions for onward cable (two switched)
(only the changes to the wiring are described here)
- a) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the white wire of onward cable + the white wire coming from switch + the white wire connected to fixture (grounded conductor [neutral])
- b) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the red wire of onward cable + the red wire coming from switch + the red wire connected to fixture (for fan – switched ungrounded conductor [hot])
- c) Using an insulated wire nut, attach / join – the black wire of onward cable + the black wire coming from switch + the black wire connected to fixture (for light – switched ungrounded conductor [hot])
Identification of wires of onward wire cable…
Black – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from light switch.
Red – switched ungrounded conductor (hot) from fan switch.
White – grounded conductor (neutral).
Foreign Users:
The colors of the wires depicted are based on the standards and code requirements / configuration in the United States and Canada. If you are viewing this site from a foreign country, your wiring standards and color of wires may be different but the principal and sequence of wiring will still remain the same. Therefore the information in this article may still be of use to you regardless of what country you may be in. Just translate the colors used here to the color of wires used in your country in regards to ungrounded (hot) conductors / grounded conductors (neutral) and equipment grounding conductors as well know applicable code requirements in your country.
WHILE EXTREME CARE HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS SELF-HELP DOCUMENT, THE AUTHOR AND/OR PROVIDERS OF THIS DOCUMENT ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, NOR IS ANY LIABILITY ASSUMED FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION, CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, BY THE AUTHOR and / OR PROVIDER
By: Donald Kerr