I have two lights currently controlled by two switches (on the same wall plate), which I wanted to combine into a single switch. However, the wiring on the inside isn't what I was expecting, and wanted to check to make sure I understand what's going on.
The wires look like this:
The wire labeled "north" is for the light receptical on the north side of the room, and south for south. However, what I wasn't expecting was for the white wire on the south side to be hot. Is this simply a case of the wires being mistakenly reversed, or is this something that was likely intentional? If the later, what's going on, and which wires would I need to combine in order to use one single pole switch instead of the previous two?
Edit:
Here is the original switch, labeled with how the wires were before I removed the switch
Best Answer
Getting switch loop wires mixed up isn't any big deal. They are both hot, just one is always hot and one is switched hot. Since they are both hots, the whites should be marked with tape at both ends.
It appears both switches are on the far end of switch loops, and may even be derived from different circuits, possibly on different poles (notice how the installer broke off the common tab on the old duplex switch). So the easiest way to control them with one switch handle is a double-pole switch. Fortunately these do exist in household form factors, such as this Leviton CAB2-20W, which is rated for 277V so it's good for opposite poles (240V). AB goes on one pole, CD on the other.