When we were remodeling this 1970’s home I told our electricians that I wanted every switch to be on a dimmer. They looked like, are you sure? Yes, worth it!!! There were a few lights they missed that we just recently switched to a dimmer ourselves, easy to do! Obviously a bedroom on a dimmer makes sense, you want restful lighting, but I love having our kitchen lights dimmed at night when we aren’t cooking, but grabbing a snack or drink. I will share how to install a dimmer switch on your own and my favorite dimmer switch!
Here are instructions on how to install a dimmer for a three-way switch (two switches or more on the wall plate)-
- If the wires aren’t exposed (which most the time they already are) remove 3/4 inch of plastic casing from the end of the wires.
- Connect the ground wire from your dimmer to a green or bare copper wire in the wall box. Twist the ends together. Then cap them using a wire connector nut.
- Connect the black dimmer wire to your tagged common wire.
- Connect the two remaining dimmer wires, called traveler wires, separately to each remaining wire in your wall box.
- Use a screwdriver to mount your dimmer to the wall with the provided screws.
Here are the steps for wiring a single-pole dimmer switch (just one switch)
- If the wires aren’t exposed (which most the time they already are) remove 3/4 inch of plastic casing from the end of the wires.
- Connect the ground wire from your dimmer to a green or bare copper wire in the wall box. Twist the ends together clockwise and cap them using a wire connector nut.
- Connect each dimmer wire to a house wire by gripping the wire ends with a pair of pliers and twisting them together. The wires from the dimmer will typically be black. The two house wires may be black, red or white with black marking. Tighten a wire nut over each pair of wire ends. If there is bare wire exposed, unscrew the wire connector, remove the wires, trim the ends of the wires with a wire cutter and then re-cap the wires
- Carefully tuck the wires back into the electrical outlet box.
- Tighten the screws holding the dimmer to the electrical box.