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View Full Version : Changing ceiling light, there are 3 wires?


tallguy
Jan 19, 2007, 01:35 PM
Hi - I'm replacing the light fixture on our bedroom ceiling.

When I removed the old fixture I found a red wire from the house connected to the black leads on the old fixture, a white wire from the house connected to the white leads on the old fixture, and 2-3 black wires from the house all taped off together.

I connected the wires to the new fixture in the same manner: black from fixture to red house wire, and white from fixture to white house wiring. I attached the new fixture's bare ground wire to the support bar via the green screw.

I was expecting only black and white coming from the house. What does the red wire signify? I vaguely remember seeing a red wire when I updated a three-way switch elsewhere in the house. I also found out that the circuit breaker for our bedroom controls an outlet in the living room!

Thanks!

ceilingfanrepair
Jan 19, 2007, 07:10 PM
In this case, red is the switched hot, black is the unswitched hot. The black leads up there are possibly going to outlets, or other circuits in other rooms.