by Mr White »
Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:04 am
Or to put it another way.
If you look at your new switch, the first terminal on the left is marked as N, That means neutral. The cabling you have does not have a neutral, so that means the switch you have will not work with the wiring you have. It is quite a common mistake, and short of rewiring there is nothing you can do about it.
Also as pointed out, your cables do not have an earth wire, this in turn means you should not use any light fittings (or switches) that require an earth. It would be a good idea to have your house electrically inspected (EICR) or better still completely rewired.
The cables you have although they are coloured red and black which most folk would assume to be live and neutral, this is not the case with light switches, red is live, but black is switched live, not neutral.