hos

Is is possible to hook up 2 light switches on 1 circuit? I'm not talking about a 3-way switch -- but 2 switches controlling 2 separate set of lights. I can't seem to find anything out on this.

speedy petey

Absolutely.
They can be wired in series so that both have to be on for the load to be on; or in parallel so that if either/any switch is on the load is on.

kok328

Bring your hot & neutral into the double gang switch box, split the hot and neutral here.
One hot into switch #1, the other hot into switch #2.
One hot out of switch #1 to fixture #1 along with a split neutral.
The other hot out of switch #2 to fixture #2 along with the other split of neutral.
Post back if this is not clear but, be sure the power is off before you proceed.

hos

The power is coming through 9 lights into the switch -- then I'm assuming from the switch to the next switch, which then goes to 3 more lights. End of circuit. I'm using 14-2 wire also. Do I need 14-3?

kok328

I think you have that backwards. Power is coming through the switch and then into 9 lights. I assume the next three lights are on the next switch. With this setup, you have to turn on the 9 lights just to turn on the 3 lights. Correct?
14-2 will do just fine, you only need a few inches of wire to make the necessary pigtails in the J-box.

JoeD

You must have 14/3 through all the lights and to the first switch to make this work properly. 14/2 from first switch to second switch and to the lights controlled by second switch.

speedy petey

Ooops. My mistake. I read it wrong.

Two switches. Each one for it's own set of lights. Got it now. Sorry guys.

speedy petey

I agree with the others. This cannot be right.

Try describing it again in detail. For example, try not to say "The power is coming through 9 lights into the switch". It is impossible to tell what you mean by this. The power "going through" the lights would definitely require 14/3 cable.
Try to say something like "I have a 14/2 feed in the switch box. Then a 14/2 cable going from the switch box to the light.......etc...."
THAT we can understand.

kok328

JoeD is correct and I was just popping in to correct myself.
If you have the switches apart from each other then JoeD is technically correct (14/3).
If you want the two switches in the same box, side by side, then my original statement would be correct (14/2).

hos

Sorry, let me clarify. From the breaker box, I have 14-2 running into a recessed light box which then moves from box to box tying them up black to black and white to white (9 of them). Then from the ninth recessed box, 14-2 wire runs to the light switch.

Now if that was all I had to do -- I'd be ok. I just ran a circuit like that and it worked great (with the switch being on the end).

However, I still have 3 more lights on another switch (in the same gang box) that I'm trying to place on the same circuit. So 2 switches controlling 2 sets of separate lights on the same circuit. That's my dilemma.

Can I draw my power from the first set of lights? Or can I somehow connect the 2 switches together to get my power and yet still control each set of lights separately.

I hope that makes it a bit more clear. Thanks for all your help!