Power located at light - not at switch. What should I do?

(Mike S) #1

I have a finished basement with one single pole switch and one three way switch. I discovered that my power is actually located at one of the lights (can lights chained together in both cases). The ceiling is dry walled so I have no access short of ripping down dry wall. What solutions do I have to solve this problem. I already have Zwave setup on the main floor of my home.

(Bob) #2

Perhaps you could wire in something like a Fibaro Dimmer into the ceiling rose.
An FGS212 maybe.
http://www.vesternet.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=fgs+212

(fightingmajor) #3

If the power is at the light, how does the current switch control it?

(Ray) #4

In this case. You can install the fibaro mentioned above or any of the in wall relay module such as Aeon, Monoprice, or Emerwave. There are a couple of posts with plenty of info. The search function is not the greatest unfortunately.
@fightingmajor, the switches cut line hot to the bulb in both 2 or 3 ways circuits.

(Mark) #5

What Ray said. I was able to add an aeon relay to one of my fixture boxes with help from him and others. If you’re comfortable with basic electrical wiring, can use a multimeter, etc. it’s not too hard, especially with help from others here (post pictures of your wiring). On the other hand, it’s never a bad idea to leave it to a professional when dealing with mains wiring.

(Mike S) #6

Thanks Mark. What did you do for your switches? I want to be able to control the system via an iPad, wall switch, and harmony remote, but don’t want to have an issue with the physical switches breaking the circuit. I wish they would have wired this properly in the first place!

(Bob) #7

In the UK we switch the ‘live’ at the wall switch.
This then turns the light on.
With a Fibaro you wire the switch up to S1 (I think. Need to consult the diagram).
This way when you turn the switch on, live goes to S1 and the Fibaro device will turn on the light.
Or if the switch is off, you can control the light via ST integration of the Fibaro.

(Mark) #8

Take a look at the diagram in the link below. I was able to connect an aeon micro switch in the fixture box to the hot and neutral wires up there, as well as the wires coming from the two switches that control the light. If your setup is similar, then you should be able to control the light both with ST and the wall switches.

(Mike S) #9

Here is a picture that represents my 3 way switch:

(Mike S) #10

and here is my single pole. I will assume that these will both work the same way with aeon switches: