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House Calls with James Tully: Installing a dimmer switch

Follow along with Action News Anchor James Tully
Posted at 7:57 AM, Jul 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-20 07:57:09-04

"We’ve got the TV hooked up to the wall so at night there’s a lot of glare and we’d like to have a dimmer option," Tampa homeowner Francesca said.

We need to help her install a dimmer switch.

I brought in handyman Paul Schramm. As soon as he arrived, he found the breaker panel and cut off the power right away. 

To make sure it’s off, after you take off the cover use a tester to ensure the wires are not live.

Remove the wires connected to the old switch and take note of where they were connected.  You will likely see three or four wires.

"The wires might not be exact, here we have two black, one red, here we have two red, one black, but notice this wire has a little bit of white on it, you’ll always want to match white to white," Schramm said.

Then black to black, red to red and so on.  The green ground wire often times will just be a plain copper wire coming out of the wall.

Make a good twist with a pair of pliers then cap them off.

Screw the switch back in, the cover back on, flip the breaker and test.

Items you’ll need: New dimmer switch, screwdriver, pliers, caps.

Have questions? Email James Tully: James.Tully@wfts.com

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