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#17100 11/20/02 02:23 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 186
M
mj Offline OP
Member
where do you make-up the power ? switch box or overhead juction/or fixture box. i prefer to power in at a swith box rather the overhead.when i kill the switch, then i will know the fixture/ box wiring is dead.

#17101 11/20/02 02:45 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 46
Z
Member
SWITCH I hate to work over head any longer than needed to! Lights fed hot at the light fixture box in residential is for the olden day era. In comercial work it can go either way...........Brian

#17102 11/20/02 03:30 PM
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 267
W
Member
As ZR600 stated the old homes are fed at the light. I like hitting the switch myself for a couple of reasons, like ZR said, less labor overhead also there's always gangable boxes were if the load allows u can feed everything right there, or hop to another switch. The old over head systems had the spyder wiring too, where everything came to the center of the room and tailed down to all devices in that room. But there's the switched outlet, where a lot of electricians wire the end of the line outlet to the switch for a switch leg and identify it.

#17103 11/20/02 03:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
S
Member
To illustrate:

In my apartment, the lightbulbs in the bathroom and foyer are fed from the ceiling and the switch is on a loop.

In the bedroom, the juice comes in through the wall switch, goes up to the lightbulb and from there branches out a receptacle in the wall and the spur that goes the bathroom light.

This is a 50-plus year-old installation. Wonder if that's too many splices in that ceiling box....

#17104 11/20/02 06:18 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 914
E
Member
I prefer to go to the switch first. In some cases I feed the light, but it's rare. My main opposition comes from my past when I used to install ceiling fans primarily. I hated having to remove a hanger bar box with more than one wire. Also for the same reason, we won't use a hanger bar in a room where a fan might be installed in the future.

#17105 11/20/02 06:25 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 186
M
mj Offline OP
Member
thanks for the input guys, i just wanted to clarify that the switch power-in way is better.

#17106 11/20/02 07:54 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,236
Likes: 1
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I will occassionally use switch loops, especially if conductor box-fill is a concern for the switchbox (multi-gang).


-Virgil
Residential/Commercial Inspector
5 Star Inspections
Member IAEI
#17107 11/20/02 08:28 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,044
Tom Offline
Member
Do it at the switch box. if you're doing a Romex job & plan ahead, you can do the ceiling box with one trip up the ladder.

Tom


Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.
#17108 11/20/02 08:36 PM
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 12
P
PJM Offline
Member
Definitely at the switch box.

We do a lot of home automation work, (mainly using stuff from GE Interlogix), which requires a neutral at the switch, so pulling to the switchbox at least gives us a chance of getting things working the way the rep promised them it would!

#17109 11/20/02 09:16 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 210
S
Member
I would like to expand this question to half switched outlets. I use 3wire at the all the outlets, so I have the option to switch any outlet if needed or if a customer changes their mind on which one they want to control. Am I being overkill by doing this? Or am I better off just picking one outlet location and running a two wire back to a switch?

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