I very much doubt you have wires running back to the switch from the fan and light separately - normally the wire from the switch (or power depending on how they're wired) would run to the first thing, say the light, then a set of wires would run from the light to the fan - don't assume you can just pull them apart, in fact I can pretty much guarantee you can't - but someone who knows more may disagree - but you have to ascertain what wire goes where. My downstairs bathroom is the reverse - fan and light are separate, but I'd prefer them together (always the way, isn't it? ) so the fan has to be on. Only light is one above the sink, so my plan is to add a ceiling light and connect that with the fan.

Well I got all the wiring done and everything connected, but I must have done something wrong. Everytime I flip one of the 3 way switches it trips the breaker. I think I have wired something wrong in the original outlet. I had a total of 4 different sets of black/white/bare wires coming into that box (I originally said 3). Before I started messing with it, the switch was hooked up as follows: Black wire attached to lower switch screw which went directly up (to the lights or the kitchen outlets), another black wire was attached to the top switch screw (this black wire went from the switch to the pig tale of black screws) the white wires were all just pig taled together (I thought one should go to the switch?). And the grounds were all pig tailed with one going to the ground screw on the light. So the way I have it installed now is as follows: black wires pig tailed together with one wire going to the common screw, black wire from 14-3 wire on one traveler, red wire on other traveler, white wires are all pig tailed (none going to switch). At the new switch I have black wire connected to the common screw and the white and red wires attached to the travelers. I am sure this is very confusing to whomever is reading this. Sorry! JoeD: I tried to follow your advice, but got a little confused, Hopefully you or some can help me! Thanks, Jeff

> The best I can get is when I turn on the light switch the light turns on, > but the outlet is off. And when I turn the light switch off the outlet turns on. It's kind of academic anyway since this won't work, but you might find it interesting to know why not. The receptacle you wired across the switch that seemed to be on when the light was off wasn't really. More like maybe "half-on." When the switch is off, the receptacle is in series with the light. That means that the electricity has to go through the receptacle to get to the light (and vice versa). As a result, the light and anything plugged in divide your house's 120 volts between them. How they divide the voltage depends on which one wants more power. A neon receptacle tester uses only a tiny bit of power, so if you plug one in, it will get all the voltage and leave almost none for the light. Thus you'll think the receptacle is live. But if you plug in an appliance that uses any significant amount of power, say 100 Watts or so, the light will go on (though it may be dim), and the appliance won't get the right voltage. Depending on how much electricity the appliance is trying to use, either the appliance won't work at all, it won't work right, or it might even be damaged. So the bottom line is that you'll have to pull a new cable to the box to feed your receptacle.

This post keeps haunting me as I have a project in the middle of electrical changes. $65-100 assuming its during normal rough-in electric. Not including adding a switch or circuit if also needed. Double for a special trip. Why? Figure out the hourly rate for a licensed electrician. It will depend on local labor costs, but the OP I believe is in the north bay area of CA. I'm in the Sacramento region. Part 1 - Placing the receptacle - figure up to 30 minutes to place the point, assuming ceilings up to 10' tall, running the cable back to the switch, fastening it to ceiling or wall members along the way, drilling studs to pull wire through, making up the wire at each end. Part 2 - Hanging the fixture at finish - maybe another 30 minutes including unboxing and installing bulbs. Most fixtures need a little time invested prior to hanging. Some are easy, some are not. Fixtures that take more than one person to hang or have a box of crystal to attach would be more. In all, an hour plus some materials IF its simple. In the past I've created standard costs for clients to help them understand ahead of time the cost of changes, its not always perfect, but many clients prefer simplified "menus" over accurate estimates. My goal is to recover costs. I'm more than happy to build a home without change orders. I've done one with a single $360 change order for flooring. Zero electrical changes. Then there are others.... Your electrician might be coy if he doesn't yet understand the entire scope of your request. A ceiling fan at 20' is significantly different than a wall sconce, maybe double even if you provide the scaffold. The best way to avoid changes is to study your plans and get the changes included during the design stage. Its also the best way to get your home done in a timely manner.