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The Old House Electrical Wiring

Switched Neutral and safety

last year

I have an old house with a mix of old and newer wiring. This concerns older wiring.

My back door has a switched neutral to control the exterior light. It's an old circuit- just two black cloth insulated wires at the light and at the switch. I have confirmed this is a switched neutral setup with a multimeter- apparently switching the neutral was fairly common at some point.

I realize there is some danger to this setup- the light fixture is always energized unless the breaker is flipped and someone who is unaware may touch the hot circuit while changing a light bulb.

But I am curious about the safety of the actual switch leg. Is a switched neutral inherently more dangerous than a switched hot for someone who is simply switching the light on and off?

Comments (4)

klem1
last year
Where entire two wire system is installed with switched neutral there's no more danger than if hot is switched. However that isn't true if breaker panel also serves one or more three wire and/or GFI circuits. It requires more than a couple paragraphs to understand so research floating ground.
greenlaker7 thanked klem1
greenlaker7
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Thanks. Definitely have 3 wire at the panel on this circuit and others. Some GFCI receptacles, but no breakers. I will look into the floating ground.
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Dave
last year
This is not ”very dangerous” as posted above. that user is unfamiliar with what a switched neutral is.

The light socket will not stay hot, so you can change bulbs without issue, but the j box will stay hot. just keep that in mind if changing fixtures.
greenlaker7 thanked Dave
Seabornman
last year
Don't stick your finger into the socket and you'll be fine. There is a chance the socket shell is hot if it was wired backwards at the light.
greenlaker7 thanked Seabornman

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