The purpose of a ground wire on a light switch. The ground wire will be either green or bare copper wire.
How To Wire Light Switches
Light switch ground wire. Bonding the ground wire whenever possible. If the wire is covered with green insulation you will need to strip 12 inch of the green insulation off of the tip of the wire. All ground wires are part of the egs or equipment grounding system which is bonded at the main electrical panel. The switch also has a green terminal. So any light switch installed since your local ahj authority having jurisdiction or in other words the building department adopted the 1999 nec should be grounded. Locate the ground wire coming from your homes electrical box where the light fixture is to be installed.
Grounding wall outlets and light switches. The black wire attaches to a brass terminal. If the box is metal then attach the fixture ground wire to the box. You should also see a green wire called a ground wire which attaches to a screw on the lower left side of the light switch. Sunday december 9 2018 light switches have been required to be grounded since the 1999 edition of the national electrical code. The white wire to a silver terminal.
The ground wire is the most important wire of any electrical circuit because it protects the circuit components by providing a path to earth ground if an electrical fault should occur. You can leave that screw unconnected if you dont have a ground wire or if you have the wire but no screw on the switch you can ground the switch another way. Power comes from the service panel along the black hot wire through other outlets switches and light fixtures on the circuit and begins its return to the source through the white neutral wire attached to this outlet. Hooking up a switch is the essence of simplicity. Step 4 loosen the screws holding the terminal wires in place. Light fixtures and the ground wire electrical wiring in some older homes does not have a ground wire for outlets ans switches and some older homes have ground wires that are bonded behind the electrical box.
You connect the black wires in the electrical box to the switch terminals and the white wires to each other. For a normal light switch the ground is a safety feature not necessary for operation.
Gallery of Light Switch Ground Wire
