I have a dual gang junction box installed in a space between 2 studs in the wall. I want to add swap the box for a 3-gang box to add another switch for a ceiling fan, however when I took the cover plate off I found that it is nailed directly to studs on both sides. Is there anything I can do to replace it with a bigger box? The wall is exterior and possibly load bearing.
I looked into replacing the 2 current switches with duplex switches, however, one of the lights is an LED (Cree BA21) and its wired on a 3-way dimmer, the Lutron Maestro C+L dimmer along with the corresponding companion dimmer. There doesn't seem to be a dual dimmer for this light in the 3-way configuration (although I could give up the companion 3-way switch).
The only one I could find is the Lutron Skylark dual S2-L, however, it looks funny and I would lose the 3-way. Are there any other options?
Edit: The switch I want to add is for a fan/light so basically another duplex switch.
Best Answer
If there are studs at either end of a two gang switch box, that means they are approximately 4 inches apart. A three gang requires 6 inches.
A switch box is usually about 3.5 inches high; with thickness that means turned sideways, it will fit in a dual ganged space. So you have room for 20 switches if you want:
(from here)