I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you don't know that neutral is directly tied to ground in American wiring. If you do know that, and you still think it's not safe, you should probably explain.
@AaronTheHarris Because I was about to buy 2 new smart switches for $35 each that don't have the white wire, but thanks to this video I figured out how to make these ones work properly. I was past the return window for the ones I have. And 2 times 35 is $70. Thus, this video saved me $70. Do you have any other questions?
Thanks, I was fairly sure that was how to do it. I just needed someone to show me it works before I burnt up a $17 switch. The perfect length video. Pure info no fluff. YOU DA MAN!
This is one of the most clear, useful and awesome how-to videos on RU-vid. You showed me a trick that even the smart switch box said could not be done. The box said that a neutral wire is required but thanks to your tip, it is not. I installed a smart switch with dimmer and motion sensor which I purchased at Home Depot for $20 and it works like a charm once I hooked up the neutral to the ground. THANK YOU!!!
You may not see this comment but I've been struggling with installing an ELEGRP DTR10 this whole afternoon and couldn't find relevant help ANYWHERE on the Internet. Until I found this video. THANK YOU SO MUCH. You Saved me!! May this video help many more desperate smart switch installers!
You are life saver. I’ve been challenged with the neutral wires for a few months now. Not even a single article or video provided the explanation which you did. Everyone talks about how important it is to have neutral wire and the ONLY alternative are the Lutron switches. This is the only video I came across which shared such a valuable information and it works. Thank you bunch!!!!
Just what i was looking for, couldn't understand why a dimmer switch had this configuration for single pole. All the other videos showed it in an unreal scenario, this is what we all have in the wall for single pole. Thank you!
Thank you, Thank you , Thank you ! I am certain there is a reason why no one else explained this like you, but I don’t care. The Smart lights are working just fine; installed and are in operational working order. No neutral wiring in my house. Following your instructions, and using a voltage detector & voltage meter to ensure I found the load wire and everything worked just fine . May the rewards from the universe shower upon you, my friend.
@@juancable1 Everything still working in proper order? I see some comments that by doing this you are energizing your ground wire and are at risk for causing a fire. Im hesitant to try but am curious how its working out for you
@@jramos20 Absolutely NO temperature increase, no detectable voltage, everything is working absolutely perfect. I cannot thank you enough. Thank you once again.
I have the EXACT smart dimmed I got on clearance as opened box and got it for $3! I thiugbt oh heck ya! Only to get home to install it and find it had a red wire and wouldn't work even tho I tired to wire it anywyas not using the red and we'll needless to say it had been in the drawer for 2 plus years UNTIL JUST NOW! thank you thank you thank you for this video! This is the ONLY video I've found on this issue! Why aren't more people making a video on this! I may make my own but yours is totally awesome and clear instructions only difference is I'm working on a manufactured home and I've got 2 sets of wires km dealing with so it'll be a little different than this video but again thanks so much! I just hope I am writing this up right with the 2 sets of wires!
this is super helpful! I bought a smart switch 2 years ago and finally I was able to install it. The only thing different that I did was to connect black with black, and the white wire from the wall to the red wire from the smart switch. Probably because the black wire on my smart switch is the “in” wire.
I was wondering who had the bright idea of color coding the wires in a way that the white goes to the black instead of black connecting with the black!? 🤦♂️
The weakness of color coding for switch legs is it’s not always obvious. Some use the white for hot and mark it with a red or black stripe, and others use the black for hot and feed the light with white. I’ve run to a few who switched the neutral, but that’s usually by accident in older homes.
I think wire you wrote in the description is backwards and needs a simple change. You wrote: "this is achieved by connecting the load and ground wires on the switch to the ground wire in the junction box." It should read: "this is achieved by connecting the NEUTRAL and ground wires on the smart switch to the ground wire in the switch's junction box." The video is very correct in its solution; only your written description mistakenly uses the word load instead of neutral). Allow me to elaborate on your solution, much of it repeating what you have said in the video. The dimmer switch needs power for it's electronics, and theoretically there is no neutral wire in the switch box. But, since in older houses the neutral and ground are connected at the circuit breaker box, the video's solution takes advantage of this fact in order to provide the small amount of power needed for the smart switch's electronics to operate; i.e. wifi or bluetooth. This small amount of power draw using the ground wire might trigger a shut off state if sensitive ground fault electronics, GFCI, are installed on that circuit, but otherwise is not a problem to do this since there are likely other ground fault wiring in the older house, but you should label this box to help someone down the road potentially trying to locate any ground-fault circuit problems that are in the house. The wire size used to connect the neutral and ground to the smart dimmer switch should be large enough to handle the circuit breaker current load (10-15 amps, 12 or 14 gauge wire) not simply the very small load the smart dimmer switch is expected to draw. This is so that the wire will not heat up and potentially cause a fire if somehow the smart dimmer fails and full capacity circuit breaker load current is shunted to the ground and/or neutral wires you used on the dimmer switch. The larger current carrying duties needed for the light fixture (i.e. 15-20 amps max depending on wire size) are handled by the two white Hot wire and black load wire found in the light switch box. The smart dimmer switch's load rating can handle the light's load that is carried by these two wires. Note, the white wire should have been colored black on a section of it by the initial installer to indicate that it is hot wire not neutral, but usually they didn't do this). These two wires are connected to and controlled by the smart switch, as shown in the video. Note that the Neutral wire of the light-fixture circuit is located only at the light fixture box itself, and it carries the neutral power load of the light circuit (not the dimmer's neutral electronic load, which is carried by the ground wire in the switch's box, and is essentially a ground fault, but is low current) and as said, this was a common practice to economically feed inexpensive, two-conductor wire (with ground wire) to a light switch box to turn the light on and off. I can imagine if an electrician is called in to "fix" this issue, that he would feel obligated to charge the customer the expense to run a neutral wire to the light switch's junction box....just my guess. Which is why this is such a very useful video to those untrained in electronics.
This helped me. I didn't have a ground wire in my switch box. The house was built in 1956.........no visible ground wires so my wall switch timer(Woods 59020) had three wires , 1 black,1red,1green(ground). I wired the green(ground) to the white(neutral) and it seems to be working. I'll wait 24 hours and let it cycle through once. Let you know. I couldn't even get the timer to power up, but I've got power and I programed the unit.
Super helpful I have very limited knowledge concerning minor electrical work and was getting a bit POed at all the other videos that were coming up with all of them being demonstrated on double gang boxes thanks for the help will confirm for sceptical people in a moment 👍
Thank you for saving me time, gas and money. I was going to return a smart switch because I didn’t have the 4 wires now I feel so happy. Thank you thank you thank you 😊😊😊
no idea my guy, I had to partially trial and error this and use a bit of knowledge of the American Electrical Standard that I learned when I was trying to be an electrical apprentice
I can confirm this to a degree. I have been running it this way for years but I've had a couple of switches burrn out. It's so nearly impossible to wire the house appropriately so I'm tempted to just keep it going.
@@sciencesaves the ground is already technically energized. If you go check your breaker box, you'll see that the connections for the neutral and ground are tied together. if that weren't the case, this method wouldn't even work.
Hi , thanks for the video ! so what would you do if you see only two wires in the switch box ? have an old house , when i opened switch box it had only two wires attached to the old on off switch , not even ground wire .
Not sure I can really help you with that one. That kind of wiring is the type that actually would need an electrician because your whole house isn't to code at all and is likely at risk of a fire if any of the wiring I've seen like that in the past is anything to go by. I've seen bare hot wire only separated by some bent nails up in the attics of houses that old
Hi everybody! I need some help please. I have to replace a dimmer, but the new one that I bought have 2 red wire,1 black and 1 green and the wall has only 2 wire, black and white. How can I connect this properly. Thanks for your help.
Thank you so much, your solution worked in my house. But not completely. In the switch box of my bedroom light, there are three wires: white, black, and green. The green was screwed on the metal back of the box, and the other two were connected to the previous switch. I tied the two hot wires of the new smart switch (both black) to the white and black wires in the box, and then tied switch's neutral and ground to the green wire in the box. It succeeded and the light works normally. The light switch in my kitchen appears to be more older. After opening the box on the wall, I found 2 red wires and 1 green wire inside. I tied 2 hot wires of the same kind new switch to the 2 red wires in the box, and then tied the neutral and ground to the green wire. However, the light keeps flickering, turning on and off at a rate of about twice per second. Could you please advise how to fix this? Is it possible that the red wires in the kitchen box are not both hot wires?
So my light switch has a red X on top and a black it's on the bottom then it has the white neutral but as you said there is no green in the old box does it matter what's the black or the red what side it goes on I don't know if this makes sense to you
This probably would have helped me except for how my junction box is wired. Aside from the wiring for the light, there's, at least, 2 or 3 outlets wired into another wire going into the same junction box. So, aside from having to share one breaker box wire across two different wires, there's barely enough room to tie both sets of wire and one switch inside a box big enough only for the one switch.
My 1960s home has flood lights and literally a black and white 8 or 10 gauge wire connected to a switch that powers them. None of this modern day, 3, 5, 10 wires.
My smart switch has 2 black wires, a green and white. My wall wiring has bare wire (ground), white, red and black. Do I leave the black wire in the wall capped?
Great question, which is difficult to answer. It depends on whether the red is used as the switched circuit. Most likely, the red and black were connected to the switch and the white is just an available neutral.need to trace where ea To tell for sure, you need to trace where each wire terminates.
That's great that you've helped so many. My old house has just three wires in the switch box: black, white and ground. It does not seem to work following your video. Nor when I switch the load and hot wires. Am I just out of luck because the ground is not linked to neutral in my house?
While that's a possibility, it's not likely. More likely the switch you have just went work in this manner. Since I made this video some newer switches have been released which are wired differently internally, I have yet to find a good way to make them work.
thank you for your quick reply! If true, that's very sad for me. 😒 I guess to have a smart switch, I have buy a different one or run four wire romex to the switch box. 🤥
so hot meaning there is power going through the wire. if the load cable in the light fitting is not hot meaning a live , Do you need to attach the live wire to the load also to make it hot ?
"neutral connection and tie it in with the ground". This works only for those that what what all that is, not for those that have zero experience. You could have pointed out What inside the box in the wall is ground.
As one at least one of the others commenters mentioned this is not an acceptable method. If your house burns down because you tied the neutral and ground together you may have a tough time collecting any insurance money.
Go look in your breaker box. the neutral and ground are already tied together, that's the code for the american wiring standard. This whole video is meant as a quick and dirty method for people in older homes, and is not a fire risk. no additional heat is generated, nor any risk of shorting between the neutral and hot wires, which would be required for a spark to happen to cause a fire. Go be a purist somewhere else, we don't all have the money to rewire our homes just to install a lightswitch, not in this economy.
There are supposed to be tied together but only at the main breaker or first box. This is called bonding. If you have a sub panel, you will notice it's unboned. This is why there's the bonding"screw" instead of it being joined by default. Because it's optional based on the situation. This is dangerous and against code. You can look up the reason why this is a hazard.
Then don’t install the switch. Some are listed specifically to use the ground wire for the minuscule current to operate the electronics, though I’m concerned that it may still not be 100% safe. Codes exist for a reason.
Hi! Thank you. So much for taking the time to make this video!!! My wall wiring has 2 blacks and one green One black is “hot” My smart switch has 2 blacks, 1 green, and 1 white. So would I attach: the green AND white from the smart switch to the green in the wall the black to the black the black to the black?
No, you need to find out which of those two blacks is the neutral, and look at the diagram included with your switch. My guess is: One of the blacks will go to the hot black, one will go to the nuetral black, and the green and white will go to green, but you need to be sure which black is hot and which is neutral. I'm guessing you aren't on the US electrical system, since the color codes you described don't match any of the standards here. That or it was a DIY job that wasn't done correctly. Your switch definitely has me a little confused though, it should be black red white and green, not two blacks. Having two of the same color is poor practice in wiring for this exact reason.
@@mtnentertainment3454I have two blacks and I'm in the US... Will something blow if I write it incorrectly? I also have a light switch with no ground... Any suggestions for that?
Wait I thought it’s a bad idea to use ground as neutral because ground is not meant to take much current, so it might overheat when used as neutral. Am I missing anything?
How much current is being used in the smart switch neutral? What is it for? Probably the tiny LED lights in the switch. Probably less than 1 watt. Just my guess. I think the line and load wires take the most power of the fixture it is connected to.
Hi , In my old switch I ghve black+White and a copper ground where as in my Smart switch TP Link HS200 I have two black (Line/Load) +White(Neutral)+Green(Ground) , So I will connect two black of my Smart switch to old black+white then Green+Neutral of my new Smart switch tied together then all tied together to copper ground cable , if anyone have done please give a buzz. Thanks
More accurately I am drawing power FROM the ground cable. I could accomplish the same thing with a diode on the neutral wire but because the ground and nuetral are connected in the breaker box it is unnecessary. The ground is not a separate wire with no power that only runs into the ground, it always has power just like neutral does.
If you have a metal box, check if it’s grounded, if so you can get a ground screw and a copper wire and connect one end to the metal box and then the other end to the switch.
You have a white wire… most people looking at this video are wanting to or trying to figuring out why they have 2 black wires (old school dummy switch) with no white neutral. So when you say you don’t have a neutral but at same time showing white wire it’s confusing
@@mtnentertainment3454yeah idk that makes zero sense I see all American colors there. I ran one today , load (red) when to the light fixture, white to white all capped, black to black (from main power) and ground to ground…worked out fine. From what I understand you should never have to use hot to neutral. Unless I did something wrong? But I don’t think so.
DO NOT DO THIS!! (If your house has a separate neutral/ground wire) You are energizing the ground circuit and it can burn your house down or kill someone
Actually, I'm drawing energry FROM the ground circuit, not energizing it. The ground is connected to neutral in the breaker box. Please do some electrical training and research before fear-mongering please.
@@mtnentertainment3454 this is called a bootleg ground and is very dangerous. Your solution may be tolerable for houses with no neutral wires at all, but for houses with neutrals at the junction box instead of the switch (any house after 1996 and others even before), this is incredibly dangerous Also, check out "What are the risks of sending low-current neutral through the ground wire?" on DIY stack exchange, it tells you exactly why not to do this
@@TheJHump123 This is specifically for houses with no dedicated neutral, if it had a neutral this wouldn't be necessary. Primarily this is for houses built in the 80's and before, which is mentioned in the video. Also, low current neutral is already carried through the ground wire, hence it being tied to neutral in the breaker box. If you don't believe me, go open your breaker box and see for yourself. Neutral and ground are already shorted in every US home. There is no amount of current being drawn here that would pose any safety risk. No additional heat of any measurable quantity is created, nor any spark which would result from shorting either neutral or ground to the load or "hot" wire. ultimately I could have accomplished the same thing with a diode tied to the single neutral wire, but it would accomplish no additional result, nor be any safer than what I did here.
@@mtnentertainment3454 Many houses, mine included, built since 1996 have neutral wires but not in any of the switch locations using a switch leg setup or similar. Any average person isn't going to know whether there is a separate neutral/ground in their house or not, just that there is no neutral line in the switch box. Roughly 1/3 of houses in the US have been built after 1996, and anyone with the above setup should not be following the video
You obviously scrubbed all the negative comments from real pros about how dangerous it is to add a neutral electron filled white wire to a ground as it heats the ground and electrifies the house so anything touching the ground that is flammable - even over time, WILL BLAZE. This is an extremely bad idea. RUN A NEUTRAL even if you have to rewire an entire home or wall etc. Do it right, do it to code, and keep your family and your property safe. Do NOT wire this way.
Can you please explain what happens when they do it this way? I want to be sure that I dont run a risk of a fire. But I see alot of people doing it and working. Just want to be sure. Thanks
This is a VERY BAD IDEA. There is a very sound reason for neutral and ground to be bonded WITHIN THE PANEL -- not outside of it. If you follow this video, YOU WILL ENERGISE YOUR GROUND WIRE. Have fun with your insurance underwriter if you do this.
