How to Hardwire LED Bulbs to a Switch Without Neutral Line

Many homeowners have switched to LED or CFL bulbs (or any other type of energy-efficient bulb) and are now looking for a way to hardwire these new bulbs to a switch.without neutral line However, many of the smart switches currently available require a neutral line to operate correctly. The reason for this is that these switches need the neutral to power their internal electronics and wireless communication circuits. If you don’t have a neutral wire in your switch loop, it will be impossible to use these types of switches (unless you were lucky enough to install them with the old-style 3-way wiring).

It’s important to note that there are some smart switches on the market that don’t require a neutral wire for operation, but they tend to be limited in the type of bulbs they can support and aren’t able to provide advanced features like scheduling.without neutral line The best option for homeowners is to look into a dimmer switch from Lutron, which does not require a neutral wire and has been in production for several years. The switches are a little pricey and need a Lutron Smart Bridge to work, but they’re a great option for those who can’t afford the cost of rewiring their home.

If you aren’t sure if you have a neutral wire in your switch box, the easiest way to find out is to know when your house was built or last had a major renovation done.without neutral line If you’re in an older house, it’s highly likely that there is no neutral wire present. Things get a little less clear if your house was built in the 1980s. While that era is famous for questionable hairstyles and John Hughes movies, it was also a transitional time for electrical standards.

In homes that are wired with conduit, adding a neutral wire is fairly straightforward.without neutral line But if your home is wired with NM cable, or Romex, the primary wiring method for US homes, it’s nearly impossible to add a neutral wire. Romex cables come with a ground, and two or more wires of different colors, including white which is usually reserved for the neutral wire in a switch loop, and black which is typically used as the hot wire.

When you turn on a light, the electric company forcefully pushes charged particles through the hot wire and pulls them out through the neutral.without neutral line The neutral provides the path back to ground for any leftover charged particles, and it completes the circuit. So, when you turn off the light, the neutral is no longer providing electrons to the bulb and it stops drawing electricity from the wire.

But smart switches require a neutral to function because they can capture the electrons that would otherwise be flowing to the light. This allows them to keep the light turned off, but turn it back on at a future date as commanded by the network. Without the neutral, the smart switch will remain off and won’t be able to complete its circuit with the light or any other connected appliances.