Add a switch to an overhead light

Question

I recently purchased an old house. The switch in the living room has two 14/2 wires. One is the line to the breaker and the other is to three outlets on one wall. I checked and the switch is wired to each entire outlet and not just the top of the duplex. A cover plate is in the ceiling where I thought a ceiling fan was removed. When I removed the plate I found one single (hot) strand of 14/2 romex that was not in a box. Yikes!

I have since put the ceiling line in a box and rewired the box where the switch was so the outlets are always hot. My goal is to install an overhead light. Note: When the breaker to the outlets is off, the ceiling line is still hot. I traced the breaker of the ceiling light and have confirmed it is separate from the outlets. I am familiar with x10 modules, but am not finding any module that doesn't require a switch to the overhead (which I do not have).

Does anyone know of a way I can control the overhead light I would like to install? I'd like to use something other than a remote, but if a remote exists, I can fashion a switch where the other switch was mounted. I would not like to have a pull chain as the light is over a coffee table and would be inconvenient.

Answer 1

Sounds like you want to control the overhead light with a switch that's on a different circuit. You can use an "in-line" switch such as this one which fits inside the ceiling electrical box. You'll need a compatible wall switch to send the commands to the in-line switch which actually controls the load. There are probably a number of other technologies and manufacturers, I'm just using this as an example. If this is your first or only home automation project, you'll want to be sure both circuits are on the same 120 volt leg to be sure the signals get through.