CityguyUSA
Registered User
In my basement are 2 rooms seperated by a partial foundation wall. Thick stone. Let's call them the back room and the front room and you pass between them through an opening in the foundation. Kind of like this diagram below.
+========================================+
| | | | <-outside steps | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| S2R | S1C Inside steps S1T |
| | |
| Back room | S2C Front room |
| |
+==============+ }
| |
" =========================+
S1T = 3-way top of inside stairs
S1C = 3-way common wall in basement
S2C = 3-way common wall in basement
S2R = 3-way at bottom of outdoor steps
S1 controls the front room lights from the top of the inside steps and at the bottom of the steps on the dividing foundation wall.
S2 controls the rear room lights from the bottom of the outside steps and the dividing foundation wall.
I think I know that above the basement that each room must have a switch to the room light at each entry.
I also think I know that you must have a 3 way switch at the top and bottom of all steps.
However, in my basement these common wall switches don't make sense because no one enters the basement at the middle of the foundation. What happens is that you go down and turn on the back room light later leaving and turning off the front room light at the top of the inside steps only to realize that the back room light is still on and of course you need to go down the steps to turn it off and then back up again. I want to eliminate these common wall 3-way switches and operate both the front and rear lights from S2R and S1T, the bottom of the outside steps and the top of the inside steps. Will that pass NEC requirements?
Secondarily, I'd like to use the common wall junction box to add 2 new outlets. That would require a power wire from the neighboring outlet on the other side of the common foundation wall and the existing 3-way switch wiring to be spliced together.
The questions that raises in regards to NEC is can I run a new power wire to the junction box for the outlets and leave that new 3-way splice in that existing junction box where the switches were or should I move the switch related wiring to it's own junction box?
At the same time I'm adding lighting oulets from 4 100 watt bulbs (2 in the rear and 2 in the front) to 10 7 watt LED lights (4 in the rear and 6 in the front).
I know I'm not overloading the circuit but future home owners may want to put back 100 watt incandescent bulbs (assuming they're still available). The basement lighting circuit also has the overhead kitchen light plus an overhead table light, a backdoor light and an outdoor spotlight. I plan on eliminating the spotlight entirely. Worst case I guess would be going from the current 1000 watts to 1500 watts on a 20 amp circuit. I can't stop them but what's the NEC requirement around LED's and incandescent bulbs going forward? Slap a sticker on it?
The outlet circuit, also a 20-amp, currently has 5 outlets. 2 in each room plus one outback. Like I said, I want to add 2 outlets on the common wall and another out front going to a total of 8 outlets. I think I also know that above ground rooms must have outlets every 6 feet. I'm no where near that amount of coverage in the basement. If I were to go to an outlet every 6 feet that would mean approximately 23 total outlets from the current 4.
Thanks guys.
+========================================+
| | | | <-outside steps | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| S2R | S1C Inside steps S1T |
| | |
| Back room | S2C Front room |
| |
+==============+ }
| |
" =========================+
S1T = 3-way top of inside stairs
S1C = 3-way common wall in basement
S2C = 3-way common wall in basement
S2R = 3-way at bottom of outdoor steps
S1 controls the front room lights from the top of the inside steps and at the bottom of the steps on the dividing foundation wall.
S2 controls the rear room lights from the bottom of the outside steps and the dividing foundation wall.
I think I know that above the basement that each room must have a switch to the room light at each entry.
I also think I know that you must have a 3 way switch at the top and bottom of all steps.
However, in my basement these common wall switches don't make sense because no one enters the basement at the middle of the foundation. What happens is that you go down and turn on the back room light later leaving and turning off the front room light at the top of the inside steps only to realize that the back room light is still on and of course you need to go down the steps to turn it off and then back up again. I want to eliminate these common wall 3-way switches and operate both the front and rear lights from S2R and S1T, the bottom of the outside steps and the top of the inside steps. Will that pass NEC requirements?
Secondarily, I'd like to use the common wall junction box to add 2 new outlets. That would require a power wire from the neighboring outlet on the other side of the common foundation wall and the existing 3-way switch wiring to be spliced together.
The questions that raises in regards to NEC is can I run a new power wire to the junction box for the outlets and leave that new 3-way splice in that existing junction box where the switches were or should I move the switch related wiring to it's own junction box?
At the same time I'm adding lighting oulets from 4 100 watt bulbs (2 in the rear and 2 in the front) to 10 7 watt LED lights (4 in the rear and 6 in the front).
I know I'm not overloading the circuit but future home owners may want to put back 100 watt incandescent bulbs (assuming they're still available). The basement lighting circuit also has the overhead kitchen light plus an overhead table light, a backdoor light and an outdoor spotlight. I plan on eliminating the spotlight entirely. Worst case I guess would be going from the current 1000 watts to 1500 watts on a 20 amp circuit. I can't stop them but what's the NEC requirement around LED's and incandescent bulbs going forward? Slap a sticker on it?
The outlet circuit, also a 20-amp, currently has 5 outlets. 2 in each room plus one outback. Like I said, I want to add 2 outlets on the common wall and another out front going to a total of 8 outlets. I think I also know that above ground rooms must have outlets every 6 feet. I'm no where near that amount of coverage in the basement. If I were to go to an outlet every 6 feet that would mean approximately 23 total outlets from the current 4.
Thanks guys.
