The Shocking Truth About Safe Electrical Installations

Planning is the most important part of any wiring installation undertaken by the home electrician.

First, make sure that your local code allows a capable do-it-yourselfer to do electrical installation. Assuming it does, plan your work carefully to anticipate likely problems; then decide on solutions before you start. You’ll get the job done with fewer frustrations than if you plunge ahead and “take things as they come.”

Think the whole project through. Plan to install all the outlets, circuits, switches and service capacity you will need next year or the year after.

Can’t decide whether to add a receptacle on a new circuit? Go ahead. It will only cost a few dollars, and you’ll have the outlet if you ever need it. If you don’t install it and discover later that you need it, another expensive and time-consuming rewiring project lies before you.

Familiarize yourself with your local electrical code. It more than likely stipulates regulations for the project you are planning.

Safety Precautions

Consult your local code inspector early for safety’s sake. It will also help avoid having to tear out a project and redo it because the inspector decides that it doesn’t meet local standards.

If you’re careless, electricity can give you a shocking reminder--sometimes fatally. On the other hand, installing electrical wiring properly is no more dangerous than using power tools or driving an automobile.

Work only when rested and alert, and never under the influence of alcohol. Pay attention to what you’re doing. Maintain a healthy respect for the forces you are controlling, and take every possible precaution.

Make sure the electric power is shut off before working on or near wires that may be live. If working on a single circuit, identify the fuse or circuit breaker controlling that circuit and disconnect it. If the work may involve more than one circuit, disconnect the main fuse or breaker to the entire master control panel.

Work in a neat, orderly manner. Slipshod work can endanger your home or require days of painstaking work to remedy. A newly installed circuit, for example, can fail if nailing up drywall loosens a wire connector and causes wires to separate--in such as case, it could take half a day to locate the problem.

Proper Tools

In electrical wiring, there is no “good enough.” There is a right way and a wrong way, and there are correct tools and improper tools. As a home electrician, you don’t need the most expensive gear, but you do need tools specifically for electrical work plus common hand tools such as screwdrivers and hammers.

Linemen’s pliers do a variety of jobs and are often used with long-nosed pliers to work with wire. A multipurpose tool strips insulation, cuts wire, crimps connectors and measures wire gauge. A utility knife is excellent for cutting a cable’s sheathing. A test light determines if a circuit is live. A fish tape is used to run new wiring through existing walls, floors and ceilings.

Allow access to all connections. All codes require that you be able to reach wiring connections without tearing out walls. After power to a specific circuit is shut off, access to switches and outlets requires removing the face plate and pulling out the device it covers. Junction boxes in walls or ceilings should be covered by removable metal plates. Make sure you can reach every junction box with minimal effort.