The ground wire will prevent you from getting shocked if there’s a short circuit.ĭisconnect your old switch from your home’s wiring. The final wire, protective ground, will be either a bare wire or a wire in a green jacket. The “line” wire that carries power from the breaker panel to the switch will customarily be colored black, red, or blue.The “load” wire carries electricity to the socket (and by extension, to the bulb) and will typically be colored white or gray, like the neutral wire. If your wiring doesn’t include a neutral wire, your choice of smart switch will be limited (more on that in a bit). The neutral wire carries power back to the circuit breaker panel to complete the circuit, so despite its innocuous-sounding name, an electrified neutral can shock you. Most smart switches require four wires to operate, including a “neutral” wire which should be colored white or gray. Once you’ve confirmed that the power is off, remove the screws holding the switch to the junction box and pull it out so you can access the electrical wires. If there’s more than one switch in the box, make sure they also don’t have electricity flowing to them. The battery-powered tool should beep and light up if it detects current. Waving a non-contact voltage tester inside the junction box is the best way to confirm that electricity is not flowing to the switch. The next step is to remove the cover plate so you can access the switch itself. You’ll find instructions for installing a C by GE C-Start Smart Switch Motion Sensing+Dimmer on a multi-way circuit here, but the upshot is that you’ll need a C by GE smart switch on all the other legs of the circuit. (And if you don’t need all the features this dimmer offers, GE Lighting offers four simpler and less-expensive alternatives.) The first step-and the most important-is to identify which circuit breaker controls the electricity flowing to that switch and to turn it off. In this how-to, we’ll replace a single-pole switch with a C by GE Start Smart Switch Motion Sensing+Dimmer, but the process isn’t radically different for a multi-way circuit. (The latest Wemo WiFi Smart Light Switch 3-Way is an exception to that rule, and it can also be used in a single-pole installation. If you’re replacing a dumb switch on a three- or four-way circuit, you’ll typically need to replace the other switch or switches on that circuit with companion switches from the same company that made the smart swtich you’re installing.
If two switches can control it-for example, switches on opposite sides of the room-you have a three-way switch (if more than two switches control the same light, it’s described as a four-way circuit.) If only one switch controls the flow of electricity to that bulb you want to control, you have a single-pole switch. Next, you’ll need to determine if you need a single-pole or a three-way switch.
In a three- or four-way circuit, more than one switch can turn the bulb on and off. Single-pole switches are the easiest to replace, since only one switch controls the circuit. Do you need a single pole switch or three-way? Daniel Masaoka / IDG
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