I have an outdoor light that's currently controlled via a light switch inside the house, that I would like to convert into a switched outlet (half hot, half controlled via the existing light switch).
However, I'm not sure if it's even possible... I opened up the outdoor light and there are three wires coming from the wall (black, white and ground). Each of these wires have a pigtail with another wire added that is then connected to the outdoor light.
Advice appreciated!
As you may have suspected, you would need four wires to have a half-switched and half-hot outlet. Ground, Neutral, Hot and Switched Hot. So, you could replace the light with an outlet, but it would have to be all switched or all hot (remove the light switch).
This day and age, you could use a regular outlet and then plug in an outdoor wifi switch to it and use that to switch something while the other receptacle always has power.
There are not enough conductors present in the j-box to support a split receptacle.
You have a ground (bare), switched hot (black), and neutral (white).
The only options I see routing a new cable from the switch box or some type of smart switching module or receptacle.
After seeing your comment, you could wire it hot (or leave it on) and add a photocell or motion sensor for the light.
While controlling outdoor outlets isn't the forte of most smart-switch systems, especially those that rely solely on wireless technology, your "typical" options aren't the only game in town for smart-switches. In particular, the old power-line communication standby of X10 hasn't disappeared altogether; instead, it was succeeded by an updated protocol called Insteon, and that technology provides us with several advantages here, including remote modules that can go in fixture boxes and the ability to use reliable power-line comms to go places wireless systems just don't go.
In particular, I'd replace the existing switch with an Insteon switch, but leave the LOAD terminal on the switch unconnected, only connecting Neutral and Line. This allows the switch to be used as a remote, controlling an Insteon Micro On/Off module located at the outdoor box, which gives you your switched hot for the outlet. (Note that this circuit will need GFCI protection somewhere in line to protect the new outdoor outlet, by the way; if you have room and all the necessary wires at the wallbox, putting a deadfront GFCI alongside the Insteon switch there and feeding always-hot and neutral through it on their way to the fixture box is your best plan.)
