A light bulb from two switches. How to connect a double switch yourself to two light bulbs

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How to connect two switches?







Why do we need two switches for one light bulb? After all, it seems that to stop the supply of current to the lamp and turn it off, one will suffice. But let us imagine the following situation. You have a cottage in two or even three floors. To climb the stairs to the top floor in the dark, you must turn on the stairwells lighting. This is done at the bottom of the stairs. After you went upstairs, you need to turn off the light on the stairs. How to do it? Either go down again, or install one more switch at the top of the stairs.

Or imagine that you enter your bedroom in a normal apartment and turn on the light with a switch located next to the door. Then you go to bed and start reading a book. To go to bed, you will have to go up again and turn off the light. But you can install a second switch near the bed and use it.

How to connect two switches to one lamp?

Purchase of components

First, you will need to purchase two pass-through switches and several meters of a three-wire cable.

Pass-through switches (or switches) in appearance are no different from usual ones. However, inside they do not have two contacts, as in simple switch, but three. One contact is common. It is the input. Two contacts are separate - these are output contacts.

Accordingly, the cable from the switches to the junction box must be not three-core but two-core.

Preliminary stage

  1. Find on the wall a junction box in which the wires from the luminaire and the supply cable are connected. If there is no such box, install it and lead the wires from the chandelier and the power source.
  2. Then, sweep the three-wire cable that was purchased from the switchboard to the switchbox.
  3. Attach each wire of the cable to the contacts on the feedthrough switches, fix the connections with screws. Remember, what color the wire goes to the general input contact. This will be a phase wire.
  4. Connect the other end of the cables to the junction box.
  5. Lock the switches in the locations.

Connecting switches

Remember that the breakers must interrupt the phase wire. If the phase wire goes directly to the chandelier, it will always be energized (even if you turn off both switches). In such a situation, simply replacing a light bulb will become a deadly thing. Locate the phase wire on the power cable using the indicator. Then turn off the power supply to the apartment on the power shield. Make sure that no one is energized while you are doing installation work. Now you can start to connect:

  1. Connect neutral wire  from the supply cable with a zero wire from the chandelier.
  2. Connect the phase cable of the cable from the power source to the phase conductor of one switch (it will go to the incoming contact of the transition switch).
  3. Similarly, the phase wire from the lamp is connected to the phase conductor of the second switch.
  4. Connect the two free wires from both switches so that the wire of the same color from the first switch is attached to the same color wire from the second switch.

All compounds should be thoroughly dispersed and must be insulated.

The two-button switch is designed to switch on and off two electrical appliances from one place or control one section of one device.

Most often, these switches are used to turn on the chandelier lamps: each of the two keys includes one of two groups of lamps, and when both keys are turned on, the entire chandelier is turned on.

In each of the groups there can be a different number of bulbs - this can be as one, or ten or more lamps. But a two-button switch can control only two groups of lamps.

Very much a part   two-key switches  They are installed in the corridors at the entrance doors of private houses. In this case, one of the keys switches on the light in the corridor, and the other on the street.

In apartments, two-key switches are also installed to turn on the light in a separate bathroom - a bathroom and a toilet. In general, there are a large number of options for the use of two-key switches, but in this case the circuit of their switching in any case is the same.


A little different from connection schemes for single-key  . At its core, the two-key switch is two single-key switches installed in one housing.

So, before starting the installation, you must select and purchase a two-key switch according to color, design and other requirements.


Before installation, carefully read the location of the switch contacts. Sometimes on the back of the switches you can find circuit breaker contacts, which shows the normally open contacts in the off position and the common terminal.

In the double switch there are three contacts - a common input and two separate outputs. The input is connected to the phase from the junction box, and the two leads control the inclusion of groups of chandelier lamps or other light sources.

Typically, the switch must be mounted so that the common contact is located at the bottom.

If there is no circuit on the back of the switch, the contacts are defined as follows: the lead-in contact is on one side of the switch, and the two terminals to which the lighting fixtures are connected - on the other.

Accordingly, the two-key switch has three clamps for connecting the wires - one at the input contact, and one at the two output ports.

So, we figured out the operation of the switch. Now you need to prepare a workplace, tools and materials. We must not forget that the most important thing in the performance of any work related to electricity is safety.

Regardless of the design of the lighting fixture, the switch in the circuit alternating current  must break the phase wire. Thus, when the circuit-breaker is switched off, the electrical appliances are de-energized, which can then be safely serviced, for example, to replace the burned light bulb in the chandelier.

The neutral wire from the switch box is connected directly to the controlled electrical appliance.

Each of the keys two-key switch  can be installed in one of two positions, including or switching off the appliance.

Diagram of connection of a two-button switch

Before starting the installation, be sure to disconnect the voltage on the switchboard and make sure that there is no voltage on all the wires.

In the junction box from electric shield  comes two wires - phase (red) and zero (blue).


Diagram of connection of a two-button switch  is assembled in the following sequence: the zero wires from the electrical panel, the luminaire No. 1 and the luminaire No. 2 are immediately connected to each other. The wire that goes to the common contact of the two-switch switch is connected to the phase conductor that came from the electrical panel.


AT junction box  these wires are connected to two corresponding groups of lamps or lamps. Thus, these two wires are the switched phases of two groups of electrical appliances.


To the zero wire (blue) switchboard in the switchbox, a zero wire is connected, going directly to the fixtures. The switch switches only the phases of two different groups of electrical appliances.


After all connections, before soldering and insulation of twisting in the junction box, we must check the correctness of the connections made.

Why is the break of the switch connected to the "phase"

Once again, we remind that the breaker should break the phase, not zero. This is done in order that if repairs are necessary, for example, replacing a light bulb, it could be safely operated with the switch turned off, but without switching off the machine in the switchboard.


Suppose we need to replace the burned light bulb in the room. We unplug the switch, take the aluminum stepladder, put it on the damp floor. Having risen on this ladder to the ceiling, we take up the metal part of the lamp holder, on which the phase is. The body will pierce the electric current, as the metal stepladder and wet floor are excellent conductors.


The consequences of electric shock and falling from a height can be unpredictable. Therefore, when installing electrical wiring, you should clearly understand what can happen if you do something wrong.

Related materials on the site:

For convenience of use and space conservation, switches were invented that combined two or more light switches in a single case, and some also contain an outlet. But here the question arises: how to connect a double switch? Such light switches for two light bulbs significantly save space on your wall, due to the fact that instead of two or more separate switches, only one is installed. In this regard, most families who make repairs, think about installing such switches.

  • How to connect?

What is a double switch

A double switch is an electrical control device intended for switching on and off of subordinate networks (bulbs or their grouping). In its structure it is an ordinary switch with the only difference that in a single case there is not one power bus but two or more. They have a common supply bus, that is, all the buses, no matter how many, absolutely in any switch, have a single power connection point.

The two-button switch allows you to install in one place the control point of several rooms or to control groups of light devices. In the first case, as it usually happens, this type of switches is installed for the bathroom and kitchen. The second type of installation is inherent in the living rooms.

How to connect?

The connection will not take you much time, it is enough just to disassemble all the nuances of the correct connection of the conductors. So, first you need to buy everything you need. Namely: a switch having two keys, a mounting box (if produced internal mounting  in a wall), a three-wire cable, a set of terminal blocks. Below is the connection diagram double circuit breaker.


Double-breaker connection scheme

In order to properly install the two light bulbs, you must follow the points listed below:

  1. Turn off the power electrical network  by switching off the circuit breaker lighting devices. In the absence of such, it is enough to turn off the general automatic device, which makes the disconnection of the entire supply network of the apartment;
  2. Find the junction box in which the connections are located (twists, if you still use them), then check the presence indicator electric current;
  3. It is necessary to break the connection in phase conductors and zero. To do this, it is correct to know in advance which phase belongs to, and which to zero. We will need this information in what follows.
  4. We install the mounting box in the place of a permanent dislocation of the light switch. If an external switch is to be installed, then simply select the location on the wall where you plan to install it;
  5. We lay a three-core cable from the junction box to the light switch. It is produced in a closed way, in the cable channel, or open, in which the conductor is fixed to the wall with metal or plastic clips;
  6. We make the ends of the wire, observe the utmost care and the correct setting of the knife. it is possible to damage the insulation of the conductor not in the place where it is needed, which in the future can lead to either a closure or subsequent unpleasant consequences, for example, to a fire. In order not to cause anything bad, we take a clerical knife and remove the external insulation with slow, regular, accurate movements. Remove the insulation exactly as long as you need to connect the wires in the junction box and to connect the conductors to the switch contacts;
  7. We clean each of the three wires and lay out the directions of installation. The removal of insulation from a single core is very simple, it is enough just to wrap a stationery knife around the wire and remove the insulation. The length of the area to be cleaned is determined based on the application, to connect the conductors to each other by means of a terminal - 7-9 mm, for connection to the switch - 5-7 mm.

Next, we will need to refer to the circuit of connecting a double light switch, from which you can understand how to properly connect the conductors and at the same time not create problems for yourself and perhaps even neighbors on the landing.


Scheme of connecting a double switch to two light bulbs

Due to the fact that many manufacturers do not always use conventional color schemes to designate conductors, we will refer to them as license plates on the circuit of connecting a double switch. According to the rules of electrical engineering, any connection of electric current conductors must be made according to the correct scheme - "from the consumer to the source", which we will follow.

The connection starts with the connection of the conductors and the contacts of the switch. To do this, untwist contact bolts in a double switch, insert wires with numbers 1 and 3 into the terminals of the breaker's output contacts. Wire with number 2 is connected to the supply bus of a double switch.

The first wire you need to connect to the supply wire of the first light bulb or a group of lamps. For this, we connect the two conductors by means of a terminal. We insert the wires into the terminal clamp and tighten the bolts, excluding the possibility of the wire moving inside the terminal.

The second wire is connected according to the scheme that is used to connect the first conductor, with the only difference being that a conductor is connected that feeds the second group of lamps.

The third core of the three-core cable is connected to the phase conductor, it is first necessary to check the absence of voltage. It is necessary to observe extreme caution when connecting a phase conductor, the whole point is that when connecting a phase conductor there is a danger of unintentional electric shock.

Zero conductors from two lamps, groups of lamps of illumination, in a junction box are cleaned from a varnish covering and are twisted in a uniform bundle and are connected by means of terminal clamp with a conductor going from a distributive panel.

In a break, that is, on a switch, it is the phase, and not the zero, that makes this method the safest. When the power is turned off, the switch is turned to the "off" position, it will be correct if there is no voltage remaining on the lamp holder, and when the zero is applied to the break, this will happen, and a simple replacement of the burnt out lamp can turn into a second exposure to the risk of electric shock.

Having presented the following situation, you can fully appreciate the danger of such connection. The burnt out lamp causes the need to get an aluminum stepladder out of the pantry, which you have to put on the concrete wet floor, you climb it and replace the burned lamp. At this stage, the worst can happen. Since there is an open-loop phase in the cartridge, there is a high probability of electric current passing through the human body, due to the created chain "cartridge - man - stepladder - concrete floor". The consequences can be from electric shock, electric burn to death.

From this it is necessary to draw a conclusion that it is not worthwhile to produce works that are directly or indirectly related to the danger to human health and life, relying on luck and the ubiquitous "Russian perhaps will carry". To work of this type it is necessary to walk thoroughly, working through every detail, not missing a single moment. After all, the slightest oversight or misunderstanding of the proper course of the process can cost you health or even life!

In conclusion, it can be said that not every saved ruble can help you, so if in doubt, whether you are able to make the installation yourself, the best and right way is to turn to professionals for help, if not for free, but quickly, reliably, and securely install a double switch and not only.

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