The switch leg brings power to the fixture when the switch is turned on. The black hot wire goes to the brass screw or into the hole in the back of the device on the same side as the brass screw.
Best Smart Light Switches That Don T Require A Neutral Wire
Where does the neutral wire go on a light switch. The two wires that come down to the switch from the hot leg powering the light itself. This is a diagram of a switch with a neutral. The neutral path should run from the wide prong at the wall outlet through a marked insulation wire to the neutral terminal on the switch and to the threaded metal bulb socket. The black hot connection is broken to turn the light onoff the white neutral connection completes the circuit. To install your neutral wire in your switch youll need to remove the wall plate by removing the screws that hold it in place. The other terminal is for a second hot wire called a switch leg that runs only between the switch and the light fixture.
Then pull the switch out of the electrical box. For smart switches that function without a neutral wire a home hub is essential. The neutral is an insulated wire because it is part of the circuit which flows electrical current. Here are descriptions of the wires and where they go. The ground screw is for the circuit ground wire connection. The white neutral wire connects to the silver screw or you place it in the back wire hole on the same side of the device as the silver screw.
The bare hopefully solid copper wire is the ground. It protects from static build up and from electrical insulation failure in short its only job is to make your home safer. The circuits neutral wire is in the junction box holding the light fixture. A single pole single throw switch such as a light switch. You will find 3 wires a black hot a copper bare and a white which is your neutral wire. The hot wire in a 120 volt residential ac circuit usually is coated with black insulation while the return or neutral wire is white.
The purpose of the neutral wire is to complete the 120volt ac circuit by providing the path back to the electrical panel where the neutral wire is connected and bonded to the earth ground. Standard single pole switches do not connect to neutral circuit wire.