How do you wire toggle switches to outlet in same box?

Answer 1

Assuming you already have one outlet in place, and want to add another right next to it:

Turn off the breaker at the breaker box. If you don't know which breaker controls the outlet, plug a night light or small lamp into it and turn it on. Note that the outlet might be controlled by a switch - if so, you will need to turn this switch on as well (if the outlet is controlled by TWO switches (a three-way-switch circuit), note this for later, but for now, just make sure that the lamp is on). Then go to the breaker box and flip the switches off and on one at a time until the night light goes out. If the night light and breaker box are not within sight of each other, you will need an assistant to tell you when the light goes out. Mark the breaker with a piece of tape in case you need to know again later. Leave this breaker off.

Now, remove the cover plate from your outlet. Then unscrew the receptacle from the box and pull it out. Look closely at the cables coming into the back of the box. Not the wires, but the cables. A cable is a bundle of 2-4 wires all wrapped up in a sheath. The sheath will be peeled back shortly after the cable comes into the box and the individual wires will be separated and attached to the receptacle. But look way back in the back where the cable(s) come into the box, and you can easily figure out how many cables there are. There should be either one or two cables. If there is only one cable, then this outlet is at the very end of a circuit. If there are two cables, this outlet is somewhere in the middle of a circuit. Whether the outlet is at the end of or in the middle of a circuit will make a lot of difference in how you connect everything.

Okay, since you only have one outlet in this location, your box is probably only big enough for one outlet. So the first thing you have to do is replace the box. This might not be an easy thing to do. If the box was put in place when your house was built, it was probably nailed to a stud inside your wall. And you can't remove these nails without tearing out a large chunk of your drywall. So instead, you're going to have to CUT the nails. First, figure out which side of your box the stud is on. Then take a skill saw with a blade that can cut through steel, and slide the blade in between the box and the stud near the middle of the box. Slide the blade up until it hits the nail. Turn on your saw and carefully saw through the nail. Then turn the saw upside down and insert the blade between the stud and the box again near the middle of the box and slide the blade down until it hits the other nail. Before you saw through the other nail, give some thought to how you are going to get the box out of the wall. If it looks like it might fall down inside the wall the second you cut through the nail, you might want to hold it with your other hand as you are sawing through the nail. When both nails are cut, pull the box out of the wall carefully. It won't come completely free because the wires are still attached to the receptacle. But hopefully you can at least get it completely out of the wall. Then loosen the screws that hold the wires in place on the sides of the receptacle and unhook the wires. If there are two cables in your box, there will be 5 wires connected to the receptacle - 2 black, 2 white, and 1 bare. If there is only one cable in your box, there will be 3 wires connected to the receptacle, one each black, white, and bare. Note that the wires might not be connected to the screws on the side, but inserted into round holes in the back of the receptacle. If this is the case, you will need to insert a very small flat-head screwdriver into the rectangular slot above or below each round hole to unlock the wire end, then pull the wire out.

Note: if you have any red wires in your box, then your outlet is probably on a three-way switch (the outlets are controlled by two switches in such a way that you can turn the outlet off or on from either switch). Either the red wires or the black wires will be connected to your outlet, but not both. Whichever color wire is not connected to your outlet will be twisted together (if there are two of them) and capped with a wire nut. LEAVE THEM LIKE THIS - You will not do anything with these wires. If the red wires are connected to the outlet, then replace "black wire" with "red wire" for the remainder of these instructions.

Now that all of your wires are free from the receptacle, set the receptacle aside and carefully pull the box all the way out of the wall. As soon as you can get to them, grab the cables or wires coming out of the back of the box to keep them from springing back inside the wall, where it might be difficult for you to reach them. Once you have the cables firmly in hand, you can get the box out of your way, then fold the wires back, outside the wall, so they don't go back inside. Tie a string around them if you need to, with the other end of string outside the wall. Whatever you do, the point is, you need to have easy access to those wires to complete the job.

Okay, now you need your new box, one big enough for two side-by-side receptacles (a "double gang" box). But be aware that you will not be able to nail your new box to the stud the way your old box was. Fortunately, they make a special kind of wall box with "flaps" that lock the receptacle to the inside of your wall. As you look at the open face of the box, there will be a screw in the upper right and lower left corners of your box, with a plastic flap on the other end of that screw. Those flaps will be lying flat against the top and bottom of your box. However, if you turn the screw a quarter turn, they will flip vertical and stop right there. As you continue to turn the screw, the flap will remain vertical, but will slowly pull in toward the front of the box. This pulling in of the flap is what will eventually lock it in place against the inside of your wall, with no need for nailing the box to a stud. But for now, turn the screws back a quarter turn so the flaps are again resting on the top and bottom of the box.

Now, you need to cut the hole in your wall bigger. Put the back side of your box against the wall in such a way that it covers the old hole and is right next to, but does not overlap, the stud. Use a pencil to draw the outline of the box on your wall. Note that the front, open side, of the box has a lip around it. You do not want to make the hole big enough that this lip can fit inside the hole. This lip should remain outside the hole because it is needed to secure the box to the wall from the outside, while the flap secures it inside the wall. Once you have marked the lines for the box, cut the lines carefully with a skill saw or a drywall saw.

Now that you have your box, find the holes in the back where you will insert your cable(s). These may be rigid flaps that you have to push in and that spring back when you release them. Or they may be covered with little squares attached by a thin thread of plastic that can easily be broken, leaving the hole open permanently. If you had only one cable coming into your box, you will need only one hole. If you had two cables coming into your box, you will need two holes. But think carefully about which holes you want to use. You want to maximize the length of wire you have to work with. So, if the cables are coming from above, use the top holes. Also, the cables are likely attached to the wall stud, so if the stud is on the left side of the box, use the left-most holes. Also, if you had two cables coming into your old box, you will have two cables coming into your new box as well, and you will need two holes. Once you decide which holes you will use, break out the flaps (if applicable), and keeping each bundle (cable) of wires together, insert the cable(s) as far as you can through the hole(s) in the back of the box. As you insert the cable(s), you will have to move the box closer to the wall. At some point, the box will be too close to the wall, and you will have to grab the wires from the inside of the box and pull them through rather than pushing. Once you have enough of the cables through to hold them, separate the individual wires of each cable enough so that they can't slide back through the holes. Then gently push the box into the hole in the wall. If it doesn't fit, slide it back out and cut your hole bigger. Push the box in only until the lip on the front, open side of the box is resting against the outside of your wall.

Once the box is positioned correctly, tug the cable ends until you are sure you have as much cable as possible inside the box. Then turn the screws in the upper right and lower left corner, tightening the flap against the inside of the wall, until the box is secure.

Now it's time to start connecting wires. Of course, you will have already purchased a new receptacle so that you have two to work with. Personally, I would have ditched the old one and bought two new ones, but that's up to you. Either way, for appearance's sake, you want the two receptacles to match in color.

If you have two cables coming into your box, in your mind, label them A and B. It doesn't matter which one is which, just as long as you keep them straight in your mind from start to finish. In general, though, the connections involving wires from cable B will require more length, so you might label the cable with the longest wires showing, B. If you have only one cable coming into your box, then call it A.

If necessary, slice and peel back as much of the sheathing around cable A as you can and separate the three wires (black, white, and bare) In your mind, label them Black A, White A, and Ground A (or BA, WA, and GA for short). If the ends of the black and white wires are not already bare, strip the insulation from the last inch of them. A wire stripper is the best tool for this, but it can be done with a pocket knife or utility knife and a pair of pliers. Bend the stripped ends of the black and white wires into a hook shape. Take one of your two receptacles (we'll call this Receptacle A) and hold it up so the side you would plug a cord into is facing you and the round holes are below the vertical slits. On the right side there are two brass screws, and on the left side there are two silver screws. On one side, near the bottom, is a green screw. Hook the end of the Black A wire to the topmost brass screw, on the right side of Receptacle A, and tighten the screw until the wire is firmly connected. Hook the end of the White A wire to the topmost silver screw, on the left side of Receptacle A and tighten the screw securely.

Now you need two short lengths (about 6 inches) of wire in the same gauge as your house wiring. If you're not sure what gauge this is, 12-gauge should work fine. Both wires should be coated, and ideally, one should be coated black and the other coated white. But the actual color isn't important as long as you keep it straight in your mind which one is "black" and which one is "white". A good source for this wire would be any left-over cable from when your house was wired, or when you did some amateur electrical work. If that's not available, go to your hardware store and buy some 12-gauge cable. You can buy it by the foot, but if you are doing any other household wiring projects, you might as well get a 25-foot box of the stuff. Strip off the last six inches of the sheathing and cut off a 6-inch piece of both the black wire and the white wire. For the following description of how to cut, bend, and connect the wires, it will work best if you measure exactly, but you can force it to work even if your measurements aren't exact.

Cut both wires to exactly 5 inches in length. Use a marker or piece of tape to mark both wires exactly 1-1/2 inches from the both ends. One wire at a time bend both ends of the wire to a 90-degree angle, with both ends pointing in the same direction. You should now have a wire with a horizontal run of 2 inches, with two 1-1/2-inch legs perpendicular to the horizontal run part of the wire but parallel to each other. Using a wire stripper or utility knife and pliers, strip the insulation from the last inch of the both legs of your wire. Bend the these ends into a hook shape, in a direction that is perpendicular to both the horizontal middle section of wire and to the legs. A good visual representation of the overall shape of this wire is a pair of eye glasses. The horizontal piece is the lenses, the legs are the ear pieces, and the hook is the bend at the end of the ear pieces, except, for your wire, you are going to make the bend a full 180 degrees. Do this for both pieces of wire.

Now hold Receptacle B up next to Receptacle A. If your stud is on the right side of your box, Receptacle B should be to the left of Receptacle A, and vice versa. Take your short, shaped piece of black wire and hold it behind Receptacles A and B so that the two hooks on the ends of the wire are lined up with the bottom brass screws on the right sides of the two receptacles. Hook these black wire ends over the two bottom brass screws and tighten the screws. Now Line your short, shaped piece of white wire up so that is matched to the two bottom silver screws on the left sides of the two receptacles. Hook the white wire ends over the two bottom silver screws and tighten the screws.

Now, IF you have a second cable (Cable B) coming into your box, proceed with the rest of this paragraph, otherwise skip to the next paragraph. Strip back the sheathing as far as you can on Cable B and separate the three wires inside the sheath (call them Black B, White B, and Ground B). For Black B and White B, strip the insulation from the last inch of the wire and bend the ends into a hook shape. Hook the end of Black B around the brass screw on the right side of Receptacle B and tighten the screw securely. Hook the end of White B around the silver screw on the left side of Receptacle B and tighten the screw securely.

Now for your ground wires. You will have to ground both receptacles. That means that you have to connect the green screws on both receptacles not only to the circuit's ground wire, but to each other. If you have two cables coming into the box, and enough length to do this, just cross Ground A and Ground B and twist them together tightly a couple of turns, then separate them again and stretch them to the two green screws at the bottom of the two receptacles, bend them around the screws and tighten the screws. If this doesn't work, you may need to find two spare pieces (about 4 inches) of bare wire and a large wire nut. Twist both of these short pieces, along with the ends of Ground A and (if present) Ground B together inside the wire nut. Then connect the two free bare wire ends to the green screws near the bottom of each outlet.

Okay, so all all your wires are connected now. You shouldn't have any loose ends. The eyeglasses-shaped pieces you used to connect the two receptacles to each other will hold them the receptacles together fairly rigidly. Move the receptacles together towards the box, folding and bending any excess wire behind them (or just pushing it back through the hole is possible). If you cut and bent your two eyeglasses-shaped wires correctly, the mounting screws at the top and bottom of your receptacles should line up with the corresponding mounting holes in the box. Line up the screws with the holes and tighten all four screws securely.

Now you need to put a cover plate over the box. You can buy a cover plate specifically designed for two receptacles. Secure the cover plate(s) over the receptacles with the screws provided.

Now all that remains is to test your work. Go turn the breaker back on then go back to your outlet. Test all four plugs by plugging a night light or small lamp into each of them. If one or more plug doesn't work, you must have done something wrong.

Answer 2

The input white wire is connected directly to neutral side of the outlet.

The input black wire is connected directly to one of the switch posts.

Find a short piece of black wire and connect it from the OTHER side of the switch post to the "hot" side of the outlet.

Connect the input ground wire to both the outlet and the switch.

Answer 3

If they are in the same outlet box simple use jumper wires to connect them together. Connect ground to ground, white to white, and black to black. If they are in different boxes then run a wire of the same gauge size from one box to the other.