Adventures in Electricity

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...