AZ Jane

Do it the easy way. Go to the box and turn off the power to the whole house, no chances of an accident. After that, electric repairs are fairly simple and straight forward. It is "usually" white to white, black to black, green to green, red to red, blue to blue, etc. You will probably have a copper colored wire that does not have a mate to match up to, but there should be a little black or copper screw to attach it to. There should be picture instructions on the box. Shove everything (don't crimp the wires but they can be bent) back into the whole, screw on the cover plate. TA-DA done! Don't forget to go back out and turn the power back on at the box. While you are thinking about electricity, if you have another person to help. Mark inside the box, which breaker goes to which room in the house and/or major appliance if that has not been done.

BettyGee

Turn off the main supply and you can do it in a short time. A voltage meter is a great tool to have in your house. With the main shut off you should have no worries and changing out the switch is easy peasy.

citruscountyquilter

Easy to do. Throw the breaker to that circuit. Check with circuit tester to make sure it is off. Circuit testers are inexpensive little thing with wires and a little light. Take the old switch out. Match white wire to white wire; black to black, ground to ground. Screw new switch in and replace cover plate. Turn breaker back on. Flip switch. Light on.

tranum

Mom was a farm wife her whole life, not an electrician, and I remember watching her replace light switches. DH does this too. Just sayin'

Painiacs

Yes just make sure breaker is off first..

coopah

Call a licensed electrician. Seriously. If done incorrectly, you could have a fire.

Karen G

I replaced old grungy brown switches and outlets about twenty years ago using a hairdryer and running up and down stairs to make sure that lights were off. It was very easy, but time consuming.

Carol34446

Very easy to do, turn off main breaker, take old one out and as you take wire off old one, put it on new one and when all wires, should be 3, a pos, neg and ground. screw switch back in and put face plate back on and your done. I rewired Helen, my grandmothers 201-3 when cord was shot. Like many other things, put the new on the same way you took it off.

Clay

I would Never call an electrician for this simple repair. It's not Rocket science. YouTube is your friend, just watch more than one video. When a couple videos say to do it the same way you're good to go.

Like CitrusCountyQuilter said, the is no need for an expensive Multi-meter or a cheep one, a simple $4 circuit tester will give you the information that you need. This is less than a $10 repair. If you can put air in a tire, you can replace a switch. It's more about having the confidence and willingness to try something out of your comfort zone. Good luck and go for it, you can do it and save money.