How do I rewire a switched receptacle and make it permanently hot?

What you need to do is create a parallel circuit. As always, turn off the circuit breaker for that switch before any changes! For the outlet to be a permanently on, non-switch circuit, you need to bypass the switch. As @JimmyFix-It has said, you need to tie the Red wire and the Black Wires (Live) together.

How do you split a wall receptacle to be hot on one side and switched on the other?


Quote from Youtube video: The two nuts on the brass side of the outlet fixture. We could then power the bottom half of the outlet to always be on in the top part of the outlet.

What is the purpose of a half hot outlet?





Often, the switch goes to one of the two plugs, making it a “half-hot outlet”. These outlets allow one half of the duplex to be permanently on while the other is controlled by a switch to provide it with electricity.

Why does my outlet have 2 hot wires?

The reason for multiple hot/neutral wires for one outlet is that the outlets are daisy-chained together. This means hot/neutral is only coming from one of the wires and it is being sent to the other wire.

How do I convert an outlet to half hot?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: We need to break the tab that connects the two brass colored terminals on the hot side of the receptacle. So take your needlenose pliers or electrical installation pliers and grab.

How do I make a switched outlet always hot but keep ceiling lights switched?

If you could tolerate one switch controlling both fan and light, you could create a constant hot at the outlet by bypassing either the fan or light switch and connecting the two switch wires together. Then one of the blacks at the outlet box would be constant hot.

Is it safe to split an outlet?





The National Electrical Code now requires that the two hot wires in a split receptacle must be connected to a double-pole circuit breaker, so that when the breaker is shut off, the action will automatically disconnect both receptacles. That way, the outlet will be safe to work on.

What is a split switched receptacle?

Switched Split Receptacle



A switched split duplex receptacle (also known as a “half hot”) is used to control a table or floor lamp with a wall switch near the room entrance. Half of the duplex is connected to the switch and the other half is always hot.

How do you wire multiple split outlets?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: It back and forth. Until it gives up. So now that is officially divided there now the same thing on the hot side so that's a neutral prong.

Why are both white and black wires hot?

The black wire is the “hot” wire, it carries the electricity from the breaker panel into the switch or light source. The white wire is the “neutral” wire, it takes any unused electricity and current and sends it back to the breaker panel.

What happens if you connect 2 hot wires?



Two hots of same circuit – nothing should happen.

What happens when two hot wires touch?

A short circuit happens when a “hot” wire (black) touches another hot wire or touches a “neutral” wire (white) in one of your outlets. When these two wires touch, a large amount of current flows, creating more heat than the circuit can handle, so it shuts off.

How do I change which outlet is controlled by switch?

Simply plug a Switcheroo into your switched outlet, and then another Switcheroo into as many outlets that you want to turn on and off with your existing switch. Set them to the same channel and you are done. Or, use different channels for multiple configurations around your house.

How do you wire a combination outlet with a constant power?



Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: The secret to wiring a switch outlet circuits such as the outlet. Itself is constantly power is to remove the brass tab. That connects both the terminal 1 and terminal 2's together on.

How do you bypass a switched outlet?

2 Answers

  1. Bypass the switch by linking the two hots and use other means to control your lighting (smart bulbs, local switching).
  2. Pull a new cable from a constant-hot source to that outlet, and cap off the existing wires.


How do you wire a switch so it is always on?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: If we wanted this outlet to always be on we would logically it would seem that you would connect the black wire to the white wire permanently.

How do I wire a receptacle from a light outlet but keep it hot when light is off?



In this case, you must change the cable from the switch to the light outlet from a 2-wire to a 3-wire cable. As you can see, connecting a receptacle to the light would see the receptacle only hot when the light switch is on.

Can a GFCI outlet be wired half hot?

No. GFCIs receptacles cannot be switched, nor can they be split. Best bet is to use a GFCI breaker in the panel, then you can use regular receptacles that you can split and switch, and everything will be protected.

What is electrical Half wire?

Half wire – It’s a phase wire which is laid between switch & light point, point– It’s either a light or power point where light or equipment are connected. Light is connected with light point & equipment is connected with power points.