So I am remodeling my basement with an exposed ceiling look. The house was built in 1950s and had a drop ceiling which has now been removed. The wiring was all over the place and so I'm tidying it up/redoing some of it so it looks clean when ceiling is painted black.

Premise:
There are 3 areas of the basement in an open concept. The original wiring used a switch loop set up for all three sections. There were two incandescent bulbs per switch loop.
The outlets aka electric receptacles (approximately 3-4 per breaker) were wired on separate breakers in the following fashion.... Wire from the breaker came into an electric box mounted in ceiling where it met the romex wires coming from each individual electric receptacle. The blacks (hots) were wire nutted together and the whites (neutral) were nutted together. So if there were 3 electric receptacles, they each had their own wire going from receptacle to the electric box where the "power wire" from the breaker was coming in.

Hopefully I haven't lost you yet.

My plan:

What I want to do is supply power to these same outlets but now I have added recessed lights to the basement ceiling. Here is my question... Can I use the same set up mentioned above and then introduce a pigtail in the above mentioned electric box that then connects to a romex cable going to my light switch? This romex cable would carry power down to the switch and then the outgoing wire from the switch would go to my first recessed light and then 2nd, etc, etc to connect a total of 6 lights.

If this isn't possible my idea is this... Have one of supply wires (wire from breaker) come into a ceiling mounted electric box and then connect 5 outlet receptacles (one wire going to each receptacle from the electric box so that all the blacks and whites would be wire nutted together, respectively). I would then use a remaining supply wire (from another breaker) which would supply power straight to the switch and then an outgoing wire from the switch to the first light, then second, etc, etc.

I read in a few places that lights and electrical receptacles should not mix when on the same breaker but not sure if that is the case for this set up. I'm not a professional but would like to the job properly so I'd appreciate the feedback.

If there is any confusion or I was unclear please let me know and I can try to clarify.

Thanks in advance!

 

Not a problem. Pigtails are not required. Use the proper size wire nut and put all the wires together.

There is no rule about mixing lights and receptacles. Some people like to do it that way but it is not a rule.

 

Also, would my wiring of the outlets be considered a series connection?.... One hot coming into ceiling mounted box and then 3 blacks/ 3 neutrals (a pair for each receptacle) where all the blacks are wire nutted together and same for the neutrals, and then each wire runs to its respective receptacle?

Should I change this so that the wires are Daisy chained from receptacle to next receptacle?

 

One thing to note on light wiring, New installations require power at the switch (to accommodate the new automation switches that require a neutral wire) in most areas.
May or may not be required in your area, but is something to consider as down the road you may want a switch that requires the neutral (white) wire at the switch.

 

I've drawn out what I want to do and attached the picture. Hopefully it helps.
Questions:
Is my method of wiring the receptacles appropriate?
​​​​​
@northernmike - I will have a neutral at the switch coming down from the mounted ceiling box.

 

Your drawing is fine. It will work as planned.
The switch wiring is fine. You have a neutral at the switch.
The receptacle wiring would be called a star configuration.

The only thing on the drawing is at the switch. The neutrals should be connected together. They do not connect to the switch unless you are using a smart switch that requires a neutral.

 

Yes that was my mistake on the drawing and they will not connect to the switch but just be wire nutted together in the box.
Thank you for your response! I just like to triple check before making the connections as I don't want to cause any faults.