Let There Be Light! (Part 3)

After some Googling, I found that there are no dual pole, 3-way switches made by that company! Some are advertised as such, but Amazon reviews have said that there are only three wires +, -, and Ground. The real 3-way, dual pole switches would require two travelers, the hot, and the ground.

I called Lowe's, and the person I spoke with on the phone said they did have some 3-way, dual pole motion sensor light switches. I mentioned that I had purchased the single pole one, and she said, "That happens all the time. You can return it after you install the right now, if you want." Cool, I thought, then headed out to Lowe's. They didn't have the correct switch on the shelves where everything was, so I asked one of the employees. He walked off with the one I had picked up off the shelf to look into it. About five minutes later, he returned with, "I don't think we carry it." Great. I just drove out here for nothing!

On the way back to SF, we stopped at Home Depot, cuz that's how we do. Home Depot did have a 3-way, dual pole motion sensor light switch. It was made by Leviton.

I asked the employee behind me if I could open it up, and he said, "Go ahead." It was exactly what I needed! It had two travelers, the hot, and a ground! Oddly enough, though, it didn't come with a plate. So, me being me, I didn't buy it. I figured I could find one with a plate on Amazon.

Sandra talked some sense into me that night, and I went back Saturday to pick it up. Installation took about 15 minutes, since I was playing with the travelers to make sure the upstairs light switch would be on in the up position (and off in the down position), and that both switches would work. The instructions look like this, so I just decided to hot tap the wires, since they are all black! What's weird, though, is that the upstairs switch won't turn the light on if the downstairs switch is in the off position. It seems like this wasn't ever wired correctly in the first place! It works. Upstairs will be on, downstairs will be on Auto, and the light will turn on when the door opens, and off 5 minutes after no one walks by.

Open the door, and Let there be light!