Table of Contents

• SWITCHES TO USE WHEN WIRING ONE LIGHT WITH TWO SWITCHES.
• Wiring a 2 way switch.
  • Materials for wiring a 2 way switch.
• Wiring a light fitting.

For you to understand wiring a house light switch,you must know what is a switch.A switch is a device for making and breaking the connection in an electric circuit.

In a simple terms I can say that a switch is a device for switching on and switching off the connection in an electric circuit.Now here I want to focus on wiring a home light switch.

In homes,there are three basic light switches.These switches are 1 way switch,2 way switch and intermediate switch.These are the three light switches that commonly used in a house.Here I will limit my self to discuss a light switch with one light point and a light with two switches.How to wire a house light switch with two switches.

This is an instant were you want to control a light point with two switches.Practical example where you need to use two switches for one light point is in room that has two doors or in long hall way and on stair cases.

Why should you use two switches to control one light point?You do not want to walk in darkness after switching off the light.This applies when entering a room through one door you switch on the light when moving out using the other door you switch off the light.

All in all,you switch on the light at one entrance and you switch it off on the other door.

SWITCHES TO USE WHEN WIRING ONE LIGHT WITH TWO SWITCHES.

You will need 2 2way switches and cables .What is a 2 way switch?A two way switch is a switch that does not have an off position.What do I mean?When you switch one the light in on location,the other switch in the second location is in the off position.

What happens when you switch off the light from the other? The light will go off.

The reason I say that a 2 way switch has no off or on position,its depending on what is happening in other switch,the current off position can be the on position.

In short,a 2 way switch does not have either a permanent off position or on position.These positions keep on changing relative to what is happening in the companion switch.

Wiring a 2 way switch.

How do you wire a 2 way switch?Well it is quite simple to wire a 2 way switch.You will need to have the right materials need for to do a good job.

Materials for wiring a 2 way switch.

• 2 ,2way switches.
• Electrical cables
• Bulb holder
• Bulb.

In wiring a 2 way switch,you have two 2way switches.As I have already mentioned you use a 2 way switch when you want to control a light from 2 locations.

Well you should know that a 2 way switch has three terminals.These terminals are common,L1 and L2.to wire this switch for controlling a light point from two locations,you run a pair of travelers from one switch to the other.

You connect one of the traveler from on terminal L1 on one switch and connect the other end of the traveler to terminal L1 on the other switch.The you do the same for the other traveler cable.

You connect one end of the traveler cable on terminal L2 on one switch and connect the other end of the traveler cable on terminal L2 on the other switch.

Now you are remaining with the common terminal on both switches.You connect the live cable from the distribution board on the common terminal on one switch then on the other switch,you connect the the switch wire from the light point on the common terminal. Thats it you have wired a two way switch.

With this wiring you can control a light point from two locations.

For the off position,you can refer to the wiring diagram (A) and for the on position check diagram (B) on the 2 way switch wiring diagram above.

Wiring a light fitting.

When Wiring a house light switch,the alt-met go is to light a light fitting.I feel it is important to talk about wiring a light fitting also.Why is it important you ask? Its simple a switch is there to turn on a light fitting or turn it off.

How do you wire a light fitting.At a light fitting, there are three wires,namely live neutral and earth. You connect the live wire at a terminal L and the neutral wire on terminal N.The earth wire on the terminal E.

There are instances where a light fitting does not have an earth terminal what do you do?You connect the earth to the metal casing of the light fitting.

Do you have any questions relating to Wiring a house light switch?Ask your questions in the comments section below.

What is a plug? A plug is a device for making an electrical connection between an appliance and the mains, consisting of an insulated casing with metal pins that fit into holes in a socket.

What is the colour code? This is a system of marking things with different colours to identify them.
Therefore here I am talking about the colours that are used in a plug that connects an electrical appliance to a mains power source in a home.

Table of Contents

• wiring a plug.
• Electric wire colours in a plug.
  • what colour is the live wire?
  • Earth and the neutral wire.
• What is the function of the live, neutral, earth wires?

wiring a plug.

A plug has three wires namely live wire, earth wire and the neutral wire. Each wire in a plug has its own function.

For you to wire a plug correctly you must connect each wire to the right terminal.

Electric wire colours in a plug.

Just like there are three wires in a plug. There are three colours in a plug.

The 3 colours are brown, blue and green. These colours represent the function of each wire.

what colour is the live wire?

The colour of the live wire in a plug is brown. For this reason, when you are wiring or repairing a plug, you must connect the brown wire to the terminal marked live(L).

Earth and the neutral wire.

Since the live wire is brown, what are the colours of the earth and neutral wire? Well, the earth wire colour is green at times it can be a wire with green and yellow stripes.

The neutral wire in a plug is blue. On which terminals do you connect the earth and neutral wires? You connect the earth wire on the terminal labelled (E).

The neutral wire is connected to the terminal labelled (N).

What is the function of the live, neutral, earth wires?

The live wire takes power to the electrical appliance.The neutral wire take power from the appliance back to the source.

While the earth earth wire is a protective conductor protecting people from electric shocks.

Table of Contents

• Canned lighting.
• Retrofit can light with led.
• replacement for can lights.
• Ceiling lights cans.
• high hat lights
• Led high hat.
• Led wafer lights.

Before I go ahead and show you the best-led downlights. I would l like to answer the question what is an led downlight?

For you to understand what an led downlight is you must know what these two words are. I am referring to LED and DOWNLIGHT. A downlight is a light fixture or fitting that is designed to direct its illuminated light downwards.

LED is a short acronym for light-emitting diode. Now, what is an LED downlight? I can say that an LED downlight is a recessed light fitting that throws its illuminated light downwards and a light-emitting diode produces its light.

This is the reason an LED downlight has a longer life span compared to an incandescent light bulb or fitting. An LED downlight does not have a filament.

Best LED downlights are downlights that are installed or fitted in a proper location for their intended purpose.

Apart from the quality and longer life span, of an LED downlight. What defines a best-LED downlight is the ability of an LED downlight to easily blend with the environment in which it is installed. The best downlight is the one that is durable, has a longer lifespan and is installed in a proper location and contributes to the overall beauty of the house.

Canned lighting.

What is canned lighting? This is a light fixture that falls in a group of light fixtures known as a recessed light fitting. A recessed light fixture is a light fitting that is installed in the ceiling. They are not installed on the ceiling like chandeliers and other light fixtures that protrude from the ceiling.

It is also important to mention that not only can you mount a canned light fixture in the ceiling but you can also mount it on the walls and ground. The canned light fixture is made up of two main parts the housing and the trim.

The housing is the part that is installed in the ceiling, wall or ground. The mounting hardware and electrical parts of the fitting form the housing. The trim is the part of the light fixture that you see.

Retrofit can light with led.

What is a retrofit can light be? Retrofit is the process of adding a new component or accessory to an existing item. In the case of recessed downlighting, retrofit specifically refers to upgrading the lamp source, to newer technology. Like LED, while maintaining the existing above ceiling fixture and lighting layout.

replacement for can lights.

Why should you replace can lights? The answer to this question is simple yet not simple to implement? Times have changed you might find yourself owning a house that was built in the 1980s. where Canned lighting was common and fashionable at the time.

You know at that time most of the light bulbs were either incandescent or halogen bulbs. These light bulbs consume a lot of electric power. Therefore, you would want to replace these old light fittings with new more energy-efficient LED downlights.

When replacing these light fixtures you have two options: either buy a completely new fitting or a retrofit for your existing can lights.

What determines how you replace the can light is the current state of the existing can light. What do I mean? If it can’t be removed easily you simply look for a perfect retrofit that is compatible with your can light.

If the light fitting can easily be removed without any difficulties, you should remove it completely and replace it with a new LED light that fits the hole previously fitted with the outdated can light.

Ceiling lights cans.

The ceiling can light are a form of downlights. All in all, a ceiling can light is a recessed ceiling downlight. when you want to buy ceiling can light, there are a lot of places where you can buy them online from the comfort of your home. Below I have listed a few places where you can buy ceiling can light.

You can buy the led can light here.

high hat lights

High hats are recessed lights, often called can lights, that are flush with the finished ceiling. High hats are good for illuminating large areas, where you need lots of light, such as kitchens, offices, basements and hallways.

Led high hat.

As mentioned earlier, the high hat is another term for led recessed can light. If you want to buy a led high hat. There are a lot of places where you can shop online from the comfort of your home. I have listed a few places where you can do your shopping from.

Led wafer lights.

Wafer Lights are thin, low-profile fixtures that come in a number of shapes and sizes. Their narrow profile allows them to be used in for new or retrofit applications.

Just like in hot solar domestic water heaters, for solar energy to convert to electricity, it needs solar electric collectors. Solar electric collectors, convert solar radiation directly into electricity. Solar electric collectors can either be modular or laminate. When solar energy is converted to electricity, it is in direct current form. Therefore an inverter is used to convert DC power to AC.

Table of Contents

• Solar panels
• How much does a solar panel cost?
• OFF-GRID ELECTRIC SOLAR SYSTEM
• HOW DOES AN OFF-GRID SOLAR SYSTEM WORK?
• SYSTEM COMPONENT OF AN OFF-GRID.
• GRID-TIED SYSTEM WITHOUT BACKUP.
• SYSTEM COMPONENTS OF A GRID-TIED SYSTEM.
• GRID-TIED WITH BATTERY BACK UP.
• SYSTEM COMPONENTS OF A GRID-TIED WITH BACKUP.

Solar panels

The collectors are made from either monocrystalline or polycrystalline cells. Mono and polycrystalline modules are the majority of solar modules on the market.

Polycrystalline electric collectors are more popular and less expensive than a monocrystalline modules. When a semiconducting material is protected by glass and is not flexible it is called a module. And when it is protected by a flexible cover it is called a laminate.

How much does a solar panel cost?

Solar energy is the conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms: Solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal electricity and solar heating and cooling are all well established solar technologies.

There are basically three types of domestic solar electric systems.

1. Off-grid
2. Grid-tied without batteries
3. Grid-tied with backup batteries.

OFF-GRID ELECTRIC SOLAR SYSTEM

An off-grid solar electric system is one that solely depends on electricity supplied by the solar array.

HOW DOES AN OFF-GRID SOLAR SYSTEM WORK?

An off-grid solar electric system uses solar electric modules to charge the battery banks through a charge controller. The DC current from the batteries can be converted to AC, using an inverter. Or the DC current can be used directly. This is possible when all loads connected in the house use DC.

SYSTEM COMPONENT OF AN OFF-GRID.

1. SOLAR ELECTRIC ARRAY
2. CHARGE CONTROLLER
3. BATTERY BANK
4. DC DISCONNECT
5. MODIFIED SINE WAVE INVERTER
6. AC DISCONNECTOR
7. MAIN ELECTRIC PANEL

GRID-TIED SYSTEM WITHOUT BACKUP.

This is a domestic solar electric system that is connected to the main utility company’s electric grid.

Grid-tied systems supply AC electricity into the main circuit breaker box(Distribution board). That is also serviced by the utility power company. This makes it easy for the house to get power from either its solar electric modules. Or when this is not possible, from the utility grid.

It is important to note that in this system, the inverter that converts DC electricity from the solar arrays to AC electricity constantly monitors the quality of power from the grid.

Should the power quality from the grid go down or below a certain standard. The inverter shuts down automatically. Until the power utility quality is stable, for about 5 minutes. This feature helps protect utility workers who may be working in nearby areas.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS OF A GRID-TIED SYSTEM.

1. SOLAR ELECTRIC ARRAY
2. DC DIS CONNECTOR
3. INVERTER
4. OUTDOOR AC DISCONNECTOR
5. MAIN ELECTRIC PANEL
6. UTILITY METER
7. AC UTILITY GRID

GRID-TIED WITH BATTERY BACK UP.

In the grid-tied solar system with battery backup. The battery backs up supply power to critical loads when the utility power fails. This system is ideal in areas where load shading and utility power failures are common.

A grid-tied system with battery backs up supplies AC electricity. The main electric panel is also serviced by the power utility company. The house can get its power supply from its solar module or the utility company.

When utility power fails. The solar electric system switches from the main electric panel to supply AC power to separate the critical load panel.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS OF A GRID-TIED WITH BACKUP.

1. SOLAR ELECTRIC ARRAY
2. CHARGE CONTROLLER
3. DC DISCONNECT
4. TRUE SINE WAVE INVERTER
5. OUTDOOR AC DISCONECTOR
6. CRITICAL LOAD ELECTRIC PANEL
7. MAIN ELECTRIC PANEL
8. AC DISCONNECT
9. UTILITY METER
10. UTILITY GRID

Colour codes for electrical wires, what is it? This is a system that is used to identify the use of a wire by its colour. I am going to share the colour codes that are used in Zambia.

Colour codes for single phase.

In a single-phase circuit especially for domestic installations. Three wires of cables are used: live, neutral, and earth wires.

To identify these wires, a specific colour is used to identify it. Three colours are used to identify these wires. Red, Black and Green. live wire colour is red, the neutral wire colour is black and earthing wire colour is green.

Top plug colour codes.

In Zambia, a three-pin top plug is used. When replacing a top plug on an electrical appliance, you should observe the colour codes.

When working with top plug colour codes, the colours used are Brown, Blue and green. The 3 pin plug colour code is live brown, neutral blue and earthing is green or green/yellow stripes.

Earth live neutral colours for top plug wiring are brown blue and green.

3 phase wiring colours.

A 3 phase wiring system is mainly used Commercial and Industrial electrical applications.Nowadays domestic and residential properties use a 3 phase wiring system.

A three phase system has two main configurations.Namely a 3 wire system and a 4 wire system.A 3 wire system has three wires or cable all of them are live,while in a 4 wire system you have 3 live wires and one neutral wire.

A three wire system is mainly used in the transmission of electrical power from generating plants to distribution centres.

In the 4 wire system is used to distribute power to consumer .or places where electric power is needed.

Now what is the colour code for 3 phase wiring system?The three phase wires use red yellow and blue colours to represent phase or live wires.Black is used to represent a neutral colour..