I'm replacing two switches (which control separate lights) in a two-gang box with two smart switches (TP-Link HS200). To make my questions as clear as possible, I've sketched the current state as well as my plan for the smart switches:
Current State:
Future State:
My questions are as follows:
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Does the future state look okay? Can I group all live and all neutral wires together per my plan?
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I live in Cook County, which requires conduit. Does this mean I can attach the grounds from the smart switches right into the 2-gang box and that's all I need?
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The smart switches don't distinguish between a line/load. Will they just figure this out? Or do I need to make sure I use the same one as a line/load for each since they'll be connected?
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Any guesses as to what the other orange/load wire is running up to? This room only has two lights, but I don't want to interfere.
Thank you for any advice you can provide– as I'm sure is apparent, this is my first time with this!
Best Answer
To answer your questions in turn:
Your future state with all the always-hots nutted together and all the neutrals nutted together looks spot-on, yes.
You are correct -- metal conduit is a valid equipment grounding conductor (always has been and pretty much always will be save for some extreme circumstances that don't show up in residential work), so grounding to a metal box works in your case. Make sure to use a 10-32 machine screw into the matching hole on the box (vs. one of the mounting holes, which won't be tapped properly for this) -- you can get a bag of pre-made-up grounding-screw-pigtails, even.
They're behaving like a normal switch here, so they'll figure this out on their own I reckon.
That other orange wire is simply an always-hot running to some other switch, receptacle, or outlet on the circuit, likely in some other room.