Sorry for the silly question. It seems so basic to me. I have dealt with 12v DC car/computer wiring since I was a kid, but have finally purchased a house. Residential wiring is kind of just screwing me up and I feel like I might be overthinking things, so pardon my potentially confusing question.
I have a 3-switch panel next to a closet. Only two of the three switches are being used, leaving the third switch unwired. Each switch is wired to its own fluorescent light fixture in my drop ceiling. I want to add a light fixture (just a single standard 60w light bulb) to this unused switch.
However, I am getting a little confused. I pulled the switch cover plate off and it appears that there are two, sheathed, three-wire feeds coming into the switch box (hope that makes sense, don't know the proper term for the wiring). Each switch is wired to its own wire set.
Grounds are left disconnected (as opposed to the switch itself). Hots go to the hot terminal, and whites go to the neutral terminal on the switch.
I believe the switches are wired like in the following diagram:
First, what's the terminology for this sort of wiring? Second, is it possible to add my light fixture to the unused switch by piggy backing off of the hot wire? I was considering this, but I am a little confused. Can this be done? Or does there need to be a connection to a main neutral wire?
With my drop ceiling, it should be pretty simple to rewire the other light fixtures but if I can avoid it, that would be nice. Thanks!
