Electrical panel picture - is this normal?

   / Electrical panel picture - is this normal? #11  
I really don't understand electricity at all. The neutral and ground are tied together at the electric pole. What difference would it make if the neutrals and grounds are separated inside the panel or not? That is unless you have a separate ground rod for the ground bar.
 
   / Electrical panel picture - is this normal? #12  
It can make a big difference depending on the circumstances
 
   / Electrical panel picture - is this normal? #13  
It can make a big difference depending on the circumstances
 
   / Electrical panel picture - is this normal? #14  
While we're on this subject. I'm renovating parts of my house. In the new pantry/laundry room, I want to put in a motion controlled wall switch, so when you have an armload of stuff you're not fumbling to turn on the light.

The wall switch has two blacks (obviously) and a ground. The light box in the ceiling doesn't have a ground coming from the junction box. It's just the old two conductor wiring without ground. The switch needs the ground to operate. The question is, can I tie the ground on the switch to the neutral at the light box in the ceiling (white wire). The white wire (neutral) lands on the ground/neutral bus bar in the junction box. So electrically, the grounds and neutrals are all the same anyway.

Or, should I pull new wire to the light box in the ceiling that has a separate ground?

Secondly:
It appears the motion controlled switch always has a small amount of bleed current, therefore the switches will only work with incandescant and fast start flourescents. If you use it with an electronic ballast flourescent, the light will have a very dim glow when it's off. I'd like to use the same flourescent fixtures that I've used in the adjoining kitchen, but unfortunately they have electronic ballasts. Do they sell a fast start kit that I can replace the ballast with?

Thanks for any help.
 
   / Electrical panel picture - is this normal? #15  
While we're on this subject. I'm renovating parts of my house. In the new pantry/laundry room, I want to put in a motion controlled wall switch, so when you have an armload of stuff you're not fumbling to turn on the light.

The wall switch has two blacks (obviously) and a ground. The light box in the ceiling doesn't have a ground coming from the junction box. It's just the old two conductor wiring without ground. The switch needs the ground to operate. The question is, can I tie the ground on the switch to the neutral at the light box in the ceiling (white wire). The white wire (neutral) lands on the ground/neutral bus bar in the junction box. So electrically, the grounds and neutrals are all the same anyway.

Or, should I pull new wire to the light box in the ceiling that has a separate ground?

Secondly:
It appears the motion controlled switch always has a small amount of bleed current, therefore the switches will only work with incandescant and fast start flourescents. If you use it with an electronic ballast flourescent, the light will have a very dim glow when it's off. I'd like to use the same flourescent fixtures that I've used in the adjoining kitchen, but unfortunately they have electronic ballasts. Do they sell a fast start kit that I can replace the ballast with?

Thanks for any help.
 

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