Electrical – How to install this motion-sensing light switch

electricallightingswitch

My existing conventional light switch was connected only to the red (top, painted over somewhat) and black (bottom) wires shown here. I just bought a Lutron motion-sensing switch and its instructions say it requires grounding.

The new switch has a bare wire and a green wire coming out of it for grounding, but I'm not sure what to do with those. I tried leaving the ground wires dangling in the back and merely connecting the red and black wires from the wall to the switch, as was done with the existing switch, but it did not work.

From what I can understand, the wiring coming from the wall is already grounded because it is attached to the electrical box itself in two places (see photo) using a screw. Do I need to unscrew that and attach the new switch's ground wires to that connection point?

Original wiring
Close up of box

Best Answer

You're required by law to follow the labeling and instructions. This is not optional.

Fortunately, your box contains both real neutral and real ground, so you can provide whatever any smart switch will require. The switched hot is a red wire, which makes it even more straightforward. Unfortunately your drywaller or painter painted all your wires, very sloppy, so you'll need to scrape a bit to identify colors.

You can't put two wires on the same screw. You would need to pull the solitary ground wire off the screw to the left, put a 6-8” pigtail ground wire n that same screw, then splice the pigtail, freed ground and smart switch grounds together.