Friday, March 22, 2013

electrical wiring!

Wiring electrical outlets and switches is relatively simple, and its basic ideas and methods can assist in much more regular non-construction tasks like fixing broken light fixtures and other electrical appliances around the house.  Talking to someone who knows how to do wiring for a house + can advise on layouts that are safe, practical, + up-to-code is neccesary, but here are some links to basic information for developing a solid jumping-off point:

          *Inspectapedia is a very informative website, lots of info on wiring 
          *Family Handyman has a step-by-step breakdown of how to wire a room yourself
          *wiring a junction box: when an existing wiring line ends, connect a junction box if you'd like to extend the run.  Whenever connections are made between wiring lines, it needs to be contained in a casing (metal + plastic ones exist).  When you wire an receptacle, this acts as a junction box, where you can continue your wiring run from the outlet.
          *GFCI (Ground-Fault Current Interrupter, a safety shutoff mechanism) outlet goes near water (bathrooms, kitchens, outside).  These are the ones with the little "test" + "reset" buttons in the middle.  Regular outlets go in bedrooms, hallways, etc.  Refrigerators should be on their own separate regular outlet, even though they are in the kitchen.   For a general overview of wiring layout, here is a basic room-by-room electrical codes.


If you want to shred your mind with a cheesegrater of jargon, you can reference the actual codebooks.  It feels like another language and takes much time to know whats happening, but learning to reference these documents can be very helpful:
          *the codes for Louisiana are listed here. Some of the links are down or you have to pay, but the electrical code is National Electric Code 2008 Edition (NEC 2008) and can be found here.
          * The City of New Orleans Safety+Permits has made amendments to NEC/International Building Code.  The electrical ish is in Chapter 27. Most pertains to licensing (no work may be done "inside or outside of any building or premises without receiving a permit from the Director."... all work must be done by a licensed electrician, etc), but more detailed wiring info comes around p.107