We're added an addition on to the house my uncle wants to run the existing power from light to light so that his power is coming off the lights to multiple lights and switches so how does he need to wire it to jump from one light to another?
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If the additional items are lights that you want on the same switch just tap at the box where the light is connected. If you want to have separate control of this new circuit it will depend on where the light is fed from. Some lights are fed from the box in the ceiling with a switch leg going to the switch (you could tap that hot neutral and ground to the new location) if the hot is in the switch box you will need to run a new cable from the switch box to your new location. In the hot in the switch box example it may be easier to make the run from the service panel.– Ed BealAug 20, 2018 at 18:59
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Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. It isn't completely clear what you're asking; a diagram, or even just a few more sentences, would really help.– Daniel GriscomAug 20, 2018 at 19:26
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If you open up the lamp he wants to attach to, are there 2 cables in it, or just one? If it's one, does it have 3 wires?– Harper - Reinstate MonicaAug 20, 2018 at 23:12
2 Answers
As it was pointed out your question lacks a little detail, but I will tell you this. You need to think of running a lighting circuit from switch to switch not light to light.
First the new NEC requires you to have a neutral in every switch box.
Second if you start your circuit at the switch box you can now run it to either one light or multiple lights on one switch or even multiple switching points. If you are running directly to light without switching them then consider the fixture a switching point.
Third if you are extending from an existing light circuit, be sure and do a load calculation to make sure you don't overload a circuit.
Good Luck
Here's some quick sketches to show some examples of possibilities. These are by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it helps give you the idea. Sorry for the crudeness of the drawings.
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And with all due respect, the rules on SE require that most of the explanatory text be in article text, not in the graphic. Aug 20, 2018 at 23:02
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While the "switch loop neutral" requirement effectively outlaws using a white wire for a hot in switch loops -- whenever you do mark a wire, you need to tape/color both ends of the wire. Trust me, I mark a lot of wires... Aug 20, 2018 at 23:15
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Harper, thanks for the lessons on SE rules and on marking both ends. Lol, I know you like your tape. The thing about neutrals, though, do we want to bring up the 7 exceptions (in the 2014) to 404.2(C)? I don't want to confuse anyone, but I don't hear anyone explaining to diy-ers the options concerning having/not-having grounded conductors at the switch box, which is a situation we deal with all the time in remodeling. At least two exceptions are quite relevant to residential, but everyone here keeps chanting "neutrals in switch loops." Aug 21, 2018 at 20:32
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Except none of those exceptions apply here. It's a difficult editorial balance on SE - on one hand, we want to avoid overbroad answers that tackle every possible combination (including ones OP specifically disclaimed) -- but on the other hand we don't want to be so specific that the answer is only relevant to one person in the universe. On the 404.2C exception list, you can have a footnote that mentions them (better: a link), but in the main, TPE is correct and they are Code. Aug 22, 2018 at 4:26