Installing a 3-way Dimmer Switch by HomeAdditionPlus.com

Hi! I am Mark Donovan from HomeAddtionPlus.com and today, I am going to show you how to install a dimmer switch. However, before we begin, there are couple of things I want to warn you about. Number one, make sure you turn power off of the main circuit panel so you do not get yourself electrocuted. And two, make sure you buy the right dimmer switch for your line configuration. If you are on a single pole switch where the light is controlled only by once switch, you need a single pole dimmer switch. If your light can be controlled by two different switches, then you need a three way-switch. And finally, remember, dimmer switchers are not supposed to be used with florescent light bulbs.

So, what we are going to do today is actually replace a faulty dimmer switch with a new dimmer switch assembly. We start by removing the faceplate cover. Next, we are going to remove this supports screws that hold the dimmer switch into the switch box. We pull the old dimmer switch out and the associated wiring. We need a pair of flyers to pull it on maybe not as far as you can but in this case is a nice open box. And we can see the three sets of wires that go from the main circuit panel which are the wire boxes in the house to the dimmer switch.

So, instead of removing an old switch all together, we are first going to take the new dimmer switch and connect the green wire which is the ground to the bare copper wire in the outlet box. I am just going to screw on a wire nut connected to wires together. Now, we are going to disconnect the black line to the red line of the old dimmer switch which was a power source coming from the circuit panel into the old switch and we are going to connect it in this newer model to the other black wire so we have two red wires and the one black wire. This one black wire is going to attach to the black wire. That is a source of the power to the switch.

Next, again in the old dimmer switch, we will remove one of the black wires from the white wire coming from the other box and connect it to one of the red wires in the dimmer switch. Next, we will remove the final black wire coming from the old dimmer switch from the red wire coming out of the switch box and connect this red wire to the second red wire on the new dimmer switch and we just use a wire nut to tie the two red wires together.

Friendly precaution when having a switch in a multi-switch outlet box, I like to have a little black tape or electrical tape on the base of the wire nut and around the wires just for this little chance of the wires coming loose, becoming loose inside the circuit, and potentially causing an electrical situation. So, once we pushed the wires back into the box, we can use our fastening screws to mount the dimmer switch to the front of the switch box.

Make sure when you are installing the dimmer switch into the switch box that you have the arrow going up so the switch is in the appropriate position. Now we are just mounting the faceplate cover over the dimmer switch. And once we complete this, we will be able to turn power back on the circuit breaker and give our new dimmer switch a test. So now, we give our new dimmer switch a test and it looks like we have ourselves a working dimmer switcher.

So that it is! It took us about 30 minutes to complete the installation of this new dimmer switch. Dimmer switch will cost anywhere from $10.00 to $25.00 depending if it is a single pole or a three-way switch. But again, prior to starting the set of project, make sure you turn power off at main circuit panel and test the switch to make sure it is indeed off before beginning this project. And again, dimmer switchers are designed to work with incandescent bulbs and certain halogen bulbs so do not try to install a dimmer switch in a florescent type application.

So if you have any other home improvement questions, visit us at HomeAdditionPlus.com today.

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