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I’ve done a couple of light switches in this house but I’m not sure how to proceed with this one. I want to replace the left switch, which I’ve already removed, with an Eve smart light switch (shown in second photo). It requires a neutral wire. The left switch is the only one that controls an exterior light. The right switch controls a hallway light. Any advice or insight?

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  • Do you have two switches controlling the hall light? Neutral is the white wires. Using an appropriate sized wire nut connect the white on the switch to the other white wires.
    – Jon Custer
    Dec 21, 2022 at 23:44
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    The black wire in the box with a piece of insulation removed should be the hot wire. The red wire is the switched hot, and the whites are neutral. A couple of wire nuts and should be good. Work with the breaker off.
    – crip659
    Dec 21, 2022 at 23:50
  • @JonCuster the hallway light also has only one switch
    – Fo.
    Dec 22, 2022 at 3:04

1 Answer 1

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  1. Carefully cut the black wire in the middle of the bare copper.
  2. Connect the black wire from the new switch to the (now 2, was 1) black wires with a wire nut.
  3. Connect the red wire from the new switch to the red wire with a wire nut.
  4. Add the white wire from the switch to the existing white wires that are in a wire nut in the back of the box. You may need a new wire nut.
  5. The green/yellow wire is ground. You don't actually need the ground wire as the metal yoke of the switch will ground automatically with the metal box.
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    That last is assuming the box is properly grounded, of course.
    – keshlam
    Dec 22, 2022 at 1:37
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    @keshlam True. But the alternative is ground wire to screw in box - and that also depends on the box being properly grounded. I do see a ground wire in the back, just can't tell if it is on a screw or hanging loose.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Dec 22, 2022 at 2:04
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    @keshlam if you look closely you can see a bare ground wire attached to the 10/32 ground screw in the back of the box. If that wire itself is not connected to ground... then the OP is out of luck with grounding it anyway. Actually that looks like a "tiger box" (old work); I'm not certain if that is a normal box ground screw that the ground wire is on... usually they are hex-head and green.
    – Jimmy Fix-it
    Dec 22, 2022 at 2:10
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    Ah, missed it. Sorry, it's been a Day.
    – keshlam
    Dec 22, 2022 at 2:59
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    The box is 35 years old or so. The ground wire from each cable is screwed to the back of the box. The screw is not green but looks original to the box.
    – Fo.
    Dec 22, 2022 at 3:01

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