Adventures in Electricity

The most important part of this blog, for me, is to encourage everyone to realize that DIY projects, even big ones, are possible. But the sheer lack of knowledge is what makes a big project seem impossible.  And I can relate:  If I were to imagine taking on the project of, say, framing my own house, the magnitude of both the job and all of the stuff I know that I do not know makes such a project really daunting. Embed from Getty Images \ In order to do a DIY project of any size, one needs to learn.  And, for me, here are the sources of information that have proven to be invaluable. Books.  I went to Amazon and searched for books about electrical wiring.  They are legion.  I chose one because one commenter stated that it was his reference book he used for wiring his own house.  Your local library would be a good choice too.  Read the book, cover to cover, in order to get the complete picture of how it all goes together.  I like this book ...

  I've been approved! And I am ecstatic and relieved. This initial inspection is needed by the power company before they will bring in electricity from the street.  On Thursday I completed the work needed in order to request inspection.  Here is the list: Attach the vinyl mounting blocks. (not code, but it makes for a nice finished look.) Attach the disconnect switch to the wall. Attach the electric meter to the wall. Connect the two with a 2 inch conduit (make sure the bushings are used to keep from abrading wire). Attach a 3 inch conduit down into the soil so that the power company has a protected path to bring in their wire Run 3 heavy gauge copper wires ( I used 3/0 ) between the output of the meter and the input of the disconnect.  Make sure the wires are color coded black, white, and red.  Black and red are power, white is neutral. Pound two 8 foot grounding rods into the soil. Connect the grounding rods and the concrete encased ground together and connect...

My latest hobby has been purchasing electrical equipment.  I hope to describe the process I used to determine what I need.  I will wait on that to see how close I came to being accurate.  This post, is all about shopping. Embed from Getty Images Have I mentioned that I really do not like shopping?  For me, this ranks right up there with listening to an AmWay presentation. Early on in this process, I asked my builder if he could recommend somewhere to purchase all of the electrical supplies.  He suggested a) any of the big box stores and b) a particular electrical supply business that serves West Michigan. The latter sounded better to me.  I was thinking I could just offer a list, and they would pull the list and sell it to me.  It sounded good because, while I had a good idea what I needed, in many ways I did not know what to call it. For instance, when you run a piece of PVC conduit to a meter box or electrical panel, what is the thing called that...

I have a bit of knowledge about doing simple electrical work.  I've extended and added circuits in houses that I have owned.  I've rewired my kitchen as part of a remodel.  These experiences gave me some confidence in wiring my house...but only in a narrow area.  There remains a great number of things that need to happen that I have no experience. If you go to YouTube and watch any of the legion electrical videos, the video hosts all start by saying: "please check with your local inspector before starting any electrical work."   What they are really saying: "If you burn down your house or your work does not pass inspection, it is not my fault!" I get it.  Still, I took their advice and I started calling Jeff...the local inspector. After about 8 text messages back and forth between Jeff and myself, I got this reply... Consult with an electrician.  Stop contacting me. With that response came the realization that I really don't know what I am doing. ...

My first inspection is probably 2 weeks away.  Today, I am again checking my inventory to ensure that I can get everything installed and ready to go. There are a total of 3 inspections that will need to take place.  The first inspection is to ensure that the power company can safely bring electricity to the house.  The following things will need to be buttoned up in order to pass this inspection and the go-ahead given to the power company: Electrical meter on the wall A main breaker panel connected to the meter. The breaker panel needs to be properly bonded and grounded. A typical installation would then be 3 copper wires connecting the load side of the meter to an electrical panel on the other side of the wall.  The meter on the outside, the panel on the inside.  That is what has been done, but my house is a bit different. The distance between my meter and my panel is going to be over 40 feet.  This is by choice, to keep costs down.  The meter will ha...

Let me start this blog out by indicating what I am planning to do. My wife and I are having a new house built.  And in an effort to try to save some money on the construction costs, we've decided that we will invest some sweat equity. Specifically, we are going to do all of our own electrical work. Embed from Getty Images In my township, a homeowner can pull his own permits to do electrical work on his own house, or on a house he intends to live in.  Also, my chosen builder is down with the idea of us investing some sweat equity. Therefore, the goal of this blog, short lived as it will be, is to chronicle my adventures in wiring my own house.  Hopefully, it will be interesting for my friends.  Hopefully, also, it will be useful for someone considering tackling a similarly grand ambition. A friend said to me:  You are going to learn all sorts of new things while wiring your house.  And you will never again use what you learned, since you will probably ne...