Two light circuits with one switch

[dodsy]

Hi all, newbie here just looking for some advice. Currently have two pairs of wall lights at opposite ends of my kitchen operated by seperate switches which i'd like to come on with just one switch. This is the current wiring so the question of the day is

1. Can I actually do this?
2. What switch would i need?
3. How would I wire it up?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[blup]

You need to connect the two lights with a new cable, that might involve breaking into plaster as they are on the wall. Disconnect the light to switch cables on one of the lights, the other one will operate as the switch for both lights. If you want two way its a bit more complicated as you will need a "strapper between the switches, again involving some work taking up the floorboards upstairs to lay the cable. You could do it by conduit but it will almost certainly look ugly. There's more to it than this in terms of the connections, but that is the basic approach in terms of route planning.

 

[dodsy]

Is there no way of just changing the switch without rewiring everything?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Do you mean that the two switches in the picture are the switches that operate the two sets of lights and you want just one of the switches to operate all the lights?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Also - are there other wires in the wall box which are in a connector of some sort?

 

[dodsy]

Do you mean that the two switches in the picture are the switches that operate the two sets of lights and you want just one of the switches to operate all the lights?

Absolutely, I want a single switch to replace the current double switch that turns both sets of lights on at the same time

 

[dodsy]

Also - are there other wires in the wall box which are in a connector of some sort?

There are other wires but they feed another single switch that powers the hall lights

 

[EFLImpudence]

Do you know what the yellow wire is for?


Anyway, move these two wires as shown and discard the link wire.

 

[dodsy]

perfect thank you

 

[SUNRAY]

Too late I guess but that metal switch should have an earth wire connected to the earth terminal