Installing light fixtures that have no ground wire is something that can be done by yourself. If youre having trouble locating the ground wire the ground wire is either a bare wire or green.
How To Connect Ground Wires
Light switch no ground. A switch box with no neutral loop will usually only have three wires see image below. The switches all have the green ground screw but nothing is attached to it. Heres how to connect a 2 wire light fixture without ground. Light switches have been required to be grounded since the 1999 edition of the national electrical code. But check will all local building codes because it may require a rewiring of your home to bring it up to date. 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.
If you dont have a grounding wire running to your light switches theres not much you can do about it because you probably live in a home that didnt require grounding wires to be. Two of the wires will be the current carrying wires that power the light. 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. I obviously know nothing about electricity so any help is appreciated. If your light switch spark box is made of metal its likely that the bare copper ground wire youre looking for is wrapped around the wiring cables sheath and held in place by the clamp. The third wire should be the ground wire and is usually colored green or bare wire.
Consider wiring the light yourself to save money on an electrician and gain experience in electrical repairs for your home. If youre changing out a light fixture and find theres no ground wire in the box youre not out of luck. 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. They will usually be colored one black and one white potentially with black stripe. Is this an issue that should be addressed or is it acceptable. Further investigation found that none of my light switches are grounded.
I went to replace the ceiling fan wall switch with a speed selector switch and discovered that the switches werent grounded. The house is in clark county indiana if that matters for building code. For a normal light switch the ground is a safety feature not necessary for operation. If the box is metal then attach the fixture ground wire to the box. The purpose of a ground wire on a light switch.
Gallery of Light Switch No Ground
