In my stairs and 2nd floor hallway, I have 3 switches that control 2 light fixtures. I’m trying to make this a smart lighting set-up with a Leviton DZ6HD-1BZ and two Leviton DD00R-DLZ’s.
I watched this video by Automate Everything, but his wiring is not quite the same as mine. I’m comfortable with electricity, but I’m not an electrician.
In this picture, the blue lines represent the white wires and green represents bare copper wires. The house was wired in 1992 and I’ve replaced a few switches already - the white wires are consistently neutral.
I assume that the two DD00R-DLZ’s will go at the bottom of the stairs and outside the master BR and that the DZ6HD-1BZ will go outside the Office.
I also assume that my wiring is similar to the wiring in Option #1 here. However, the only switch box in my set-up that has two Romex wires (represented by orange in my schematic above) coming into/out of it is the box outside of the office. Which leads me to a secondary question of: How is power getting into this lighting system?!
But, my main question is: How do I convert this to a smart set-up? Do I simply replace the switches at the bottom of the stairs and the master BR with the DD00R-DLZ’s? That process seems straight-forward.
What is happening in the box outside of the office? Why are the black wires connected together with a nut? How do I connect this wiring to the DZ6HD-1BZ?
Thanks for your time, I really appreciate any help you can give!
I see two Romex cables in the box you’ve labeled “Outside Master BR” but it appears that the black and white wires from one of them are both capped off with electrical tape. ??
Paging @ritchierich who is excellent at this sort of puzzle
You have power going to light fixture first and then the switches. Unfortunately this greatly limits your options and Leviton, GE, etc switches won’t work without pulling additional wires to one of the switches.
Only hope is to figure out where those two extra wires in the outside bedroom switch location go to and if you can leverage them.
Unfortunately yes because all the smart switches, other than some dimmers, require a neutral. He doesn’t have a neutral in any of the boxes. Sure one can be sent to one from the fixture however there aren’t enough wires for load, line, traveler, and neutral. Only hope is if that random 14-2 Romex with black tape on it goes to the light so we can leverage it. This said some wiring changes will be required at the light too so hopefully that is accessible.
Thanks for your response! You see correctly - we had work done in the master bathroom (which is on the other side of the wall from the switch box). I assume that the black and white did something in the bathroom before the renovation. I’m sure you can tell, but to be sure, the bare copper from that romex is connected to the bare copper that is connected to the switch. I have no idea where this floating romex goes or what it did.
I’ve converted a few other switches in the house to the Levitons - the white wires have been consistently neutral. What makes you think that the white wires in these boxes are not neutral?
If this goes to the light, does it mean that this is the for the DZ6HD?
I can get to the wiring to the lights, but if this is required, I’m not sure I have the technical skills or fortitude to pull this off.
Not really. Given drywall it’s hard. First thing I would personally do is pull down the light fixture to see if there is also an unused 14-2 Romex in it. Also does there happen to be a receptacle close to this switch? Maybe this wire goes there? Another idea is to buy a cheap wire toner off Amazon and See if you can follow it that way.
Wire color in US is not dictated by code. First major clue it’s not neutral is the fact the white wires are hooked up to the old dumb switches as travel wires. Some electricians will cover white wires with electrical tape to give a visual clue it’s hot but again that isn’t required and some get lazy. But I know for a fact the white wires in all three are not neutrals.
Power has to be going first to your light fixture next step would be to pull that down if possible and post pictures if it’s wiring.
Depending on pictures and wiring I might be able to walk you through this.
With power to light first, as mentioned in the GE FAQ very long thread, your options are very limited because you don’t have neutrals to switches and don’t have enough wires typically to hook up a master switch- remember it needs line, load, neutral, and traveler 4 wires. I am sire you are thinking well the one box has that many but that is only because it was previously your 4 way switch. Only hope is that the rogue wire that has tape on it also goes to the light and is not being used.
