Overhead can light
#1
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Overhead can light
I have a new house with 8 can lights over the length of the kitchen counters. There are two switches at opposite ends of the kitchen. My question is....there is a light over the sink that comes on with all the other cans. Can that light be wired so that it will come on with the others as ususal and also be wired to a seperate switch by the sink so I can turn it on only when doing dishes? Thanks for your help...
#2
You could do it sort of with a double pole double throw switch but you would need to run new wiring and I'm not sure where code stands on this.
The light would be hooked to the common terminals in this case. Power from the switch that was originally hooked to the light ande original neutral would be connected to one of the remaining sets of terminals. A new line from the un-switched side of power to the lights would be run to the other set of terminals. You might be able to do this with a SPDT switch but I see code problems with conductors not in the same jacket.
The problem with this is the original light switch would not turn off the light if the new switch was in the position of taking power from the new source. You would in that case have to turn both off. A better solution in my opinion is to just operate the light separate on its own switch.
The light would be hooked to the common terminals in this case. Power from the switch that was originally hooked to the light ande original neutral would be connected to one of the remaining sets of terminals. A new line from the un-switched side of power to the lights would be run to the other set of terminals. You might be able to do this with a SPDT switch but I see code problems with conductors not in the same jacket.
The problem with this is the original light switch would not turn off the light if the new switch was in the position of taking power from the new source. You would in that case have to turn both off. A better solution in my opinion is to just operate the light separate on its own switch.
#4
What you could do assuming reasonably easy wiring access is to put it on a separate switch and put a switch at each door and the sink. That would allow you to almost do what you wanted to do.