Quick question, I bought a couple of GE On/Off switches to wire my ceiling fans and the switch requires 3 wires; Hot, Load and Neutral. My current switch has 2 wires going to it; I am assuming Hot and Load. Can I just run a jumper from a neutral line in the box to the switch?
I think this is right, but just thought it would be smarter to check before making a mistake.
The GE switch requires a hot and neutral wire to run the ZWave radio, and the Load wire to power the light/fan/whatever. Most regular switches only need hot and load, since the switch itself does not require any power.
Modern electrical codes generally run the neutral wires through the switch electrical box. However, older homes often do not. You do need to find the proper neutral wire to connect to (and it must be on the same circuit as the hot wire).
If you have any doubt on what your are doing, consult a licensed electrician!
As others have stated in here, the GE on/off switch, as well as all other “relay” based (read: full on/off) z-wave switches that I have seen require Hot, Load, and Neutral (Ground isn’t essential for them to work, but you should ground them).
In most cases when you replace a standard toggle switch, the neutral wire (if your house has them) will just be in a bundle at the back of the box. As you have already assumed, you’ll want to just pigtail off the the neutral wires that are in your box, and count yourself fortunate that you have them. My house has neutral wires as well as the electrical was all redone in the 1980s, but I have heard from a few folks with older homes that don’t have them at all.