3 way stairs switch, remote switch pass inspection?

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Stevenfyeager

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United States, Indiana
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electrical contractor
Roughing in an older home basement, the owner wants to use a remote wireless 3 way switch for the stairs. No need to run a 12-3 wire. But will this pass an inspection? What if the next owner decides to not use a wireless? Not fishing a wire would save us time, but...
Thank you
 
3-ways are not required for stairwells you only need a switch on each level. You are not required to control the light at the top of the stairs from the bottom and vice versa.
 
Stevenfyeager said:
Roughing in an older home basement, the owner wants to use a remote wireless 3 way switch for the stairs. No need to run a 12-3 wire. But will this pass an inspection? What if the next owner decides to not use a wireless? Not fishing a wire would save us time, but...
Thank you
Click to expand...

This question comes up from time to time. While 210.70 says you must have control at each floor, it does not say how you accomplish it. In my view your method is compliant as long as it is a permanently installed identified for the purpose switch/system such as Lutron PICO, etc.
 
I think steve is asking if a wireless switch will pass inspection. He has an older home with one light and he wants that light control from top and bottom. I would think this would have to pass since it is better than the original.

Now if the wall were open would it pass? IMO, yes.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
I think steve is asking if a wireless switch will pass inspection. He has an older home with one light and he wants that light control from top and bottom. I would think this would have to pass since it is better than the original.

Now if the wall were open would it pass? IMO, yes.
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Thank you. The reason I was asking was last year, an inspector had me add a 3 way at the top of a stair in a detached garage after it was finished. The stair had a turn, etc. extremely difficult to fish a wire. I had a switched lighted storage room at the top of the stairs and a stair light switch at the bottom of the stairs. (and of course lighting for the garage) I figured no one ever need a stair light switch at the top where no one could ever come from that direction. I was wrong. It was very difficult to fish, but found an acceptable way.
 
There is no NEC requirement, anywhere, for any reason, for using 3-way switches. You only need a switch at the top and a switch at the bottom of the stairs. Two single-poles controlling two lights satisfies the Code.
 
GoldDigger said:
Yes, but as 480sparky stated the two switches do not have to control the same light!
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And what does the building code say,

a building code like the IRC may say you can use the bottom landing principle but if you do you must illuminate the top landing at the same time so are you wiring your single pole switches in parallel?

or your light can be over the section of stairs needing illuminated
 
david said:
And what does the building code say,

a building code like the IRC may say you can use the bottom landing principle but if you do you must illuminate the top landing at the same time so are you wiring your single pole switches in parallel?

or your light can be over the section of stairs needing illuminated
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Two switches in parallel will not allow you to turn the light back off easily after a one-way trip on the stairs.
In many cases you can place two single light part way up the stairs that will each illuminate both top and bottom landing as well as the body of the stairs. But same one way trip problem.
And when this is not possible a technically allowed solution would be to install four lights, two at the top and two at the bottom, with one light of each pair controlled by one of two switches (one at top and one at bottom.)
With this configuration as well as the parallel switch configuration you could turn all lights off after a "one-way" trip on the stairs by a process like turning on bottom switch, going up, turning on top switch, ducking down temporarily to turn bottom switch off then going up for the final time and turning off top switch.
 
GoldDigger said:
Two switches in parallel will not allow you to turn the light back off easily after a one-way trip on the stairs.
In many cases you can place two single light part way up the stairs that will each illuminate both top and bottom landing as well as the body of the stairs. But same one way trip problem.
And when this is not possible a technically allowed solution would be to install four lights, two at the top and two at the bottom, with one light of each pair controlled by one of two switches (one at top and one at bottom.)
With this configuration as well as the parallel switch configuration you could turn all lights off after a "one-way" trip on the stairs by a process like turning on bottom switch, going up, turning on top switch, ducking down temporarily to turn bottom switch off then going up for the final time and turning off top switch.
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yes i thought about the four lights but didn't want to say you would need four lights to accomplish this.

i have never seen controlling stairway lighting using single pole switches, maybe the three way is just more praticle
 
texie said:
This question comes up from time to time. While 210.70 says you must have control at each floor, it does not say how you accomplish it. In my view your method is compliant as long as it is a permanently installed identified for the purpose switch/system such as Lutron PICO, etc.
Click to expand...

I agree....

And leviton makes a self-powered wireless 3-way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
david said:
yes i thought about the four lights but didn't want to say you would need four lights to accomplish this.

i have never seen controlling stairway lighting using single pole switches, maybe the three way is just more praticle
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I've seen plenty of basement stairways with a switch at the top controlling a light at the top (and maybe another one halfway down or even at the bottom), and a switch at the bottom for the rest of the lights in the basement.

Same arrangement for attic stairways.
 
480sparky said:
I've seen plenty of basement stairways with a switch at the top controlling a light at the top (and maybe another one halfway down or even at the bottom), and a switch at the bottom for the rest of the lights in the basement.

Same arrangement for attic stairways.
Click to expand...

yes i have seen lights and switching arrangements in older homes put a lot of three ways in older homes basements i met to accomplish top and bottom control over a section of stairs
 
david said:
yes i have seen lights and switching arrangements in older homes put a lot of three ways in older homes basements i met to accomplish top and bottom control over a section of stairs
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Really old homes like the one I grew up in had all basement lights including the stairs on one switch.
No one spent much time in those old, dank basements either. You turned on the lights, went down, did what you had to do, and got out & turned off the lights. There was no practical reason to turn off the lights when you were at the bottom of the stairs.
 
You are all correct that a 3 way is not required but go ahead and wire a house that way and see what happens. You will not see just one switch anymore unless, perhaps, in an unfinished basement that has no exterior access.

The question remains does a remote switch or for that matter, a remote control satisfy the code requirement
 
Dennis Alwon said:
You are all correct that a 3 way is not required but go ahead and wire a house that way and see what happens. You will not see just one switch anymore unless, perhaps, in an unfinished basement that has no exterior access.

The question remains does a remote switch or for that matter, a remote control satisfy the code requirement
Click to expand...
I see no reason why a remote switch, either wired or wireless, would not meet the code requirement.


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