I have an existing outdoor light near my front door and a switch inside that controls it. I would like to add 2 more lights, each on either side of my garage door, and have that same switch control all three lights. Are there any load limitations I have to worry about, and what would the switch wiring procedure be?

Thanks,

James Cole

 

What is the present load on the circuit, and how many watts are the two lights you want to add?

How you wire depends on many factors. You can wire from the existing light to one new light then to the other, or depending on the wiring you can wire from the switch to one of the lights to the other. How is the existing light wired, and what makes the most sense in terms of running new wires?

 

It is unlikely that adding a couple of lights will overload the circuit, but you should answer Bob's questions anyway to be sure.

The best and simplest wiring plan, but not the only option, would be to run a new cable from the existing light to the first new light, and from the first new light to the second new light. If you connect this cable to the same two wires that the existing light is connected to, it's almost impossible to screw this job up. Don't even open up the switch box, as that can only lead to trouble.