How to Wire an Indoor Light Switch Timer

If you want to save on the bill of your lights you will want to consider installing a light switch timer. The timer will be installed over the top of your light switch giving you more control on when you want to limit the amount of time the light uses.

Step 1 - Turn off the Power and Test with Volt Tester

The circuit breaker should be turned off before you start wiring any electronics. If you are not sure if the power if fully off you can use a voltage tester next to a switch by the circuit breaker. With the voltage tester you want to connect the red wire to the hot wire and the black wire from the voltage tester to the neutral area of the plug. Check your voltage meter as see if there is a glowing light which means that the power is still on.

Step 2 - Remove Faceplate

With a screwdriver remove all of the screws that are on the faceplate of the light switch. When the faceplate is removed you want to slowly pull out the switch so it hangs out of the wall box. To make sure that the power is off before you begin wiring and connecting wires you should use the voltage tester to check if there is any power going to the switch if the light turn on then you need to make sure the power is off from the service panel.

Step 3 - Connecting Black Wires

With the switch being outside the wall you will see the wires that will need to be unscrewed. The caps should be removed so that you can discard the switch that was attached to the wires. Use a wire stripper to strip down around 1/2 of the wire so the bare wire is showing on the switch and also the wall. With a pair of pliers you want to splice together the black wire from the light switch timer to the black wire from the wall. Use the wire nuts to finish connecting the two wires together. Repeat the same process of splicing together the black wire from the light switch timer to the same color wire on the wall wire. If there are extra wires that do not need to be used you can use a wire nut to secure the electricity.

Step 4 - Finish Wiring

Attach the ground wire on the light timer to the copper wire from the box. You could also attach the ground wire to any place on the box that is metal to make sure it is grounded. Push all of the wires back to the area of the box and slowly push the switch timer into place and screw in the bolts. The faceplate that came with timer should be installed back and secured with screws. Now that all of the wires and the light switch timer is in place you need to go back to the power supply and turn back on the power. Your new light switch timer is ready to use.