There
are three stages for
house wiring:
› Underground stage
› Rough stage
› Electrical stage
•From the power company, we get:
•two hot wires
•one neutral wire.
•The two major voltages available in our
homes are:
•115 VAC
•230 VAC
•Most of the receptacles in our homes are 115
VAC.
•Washer, Dryer, Oven, etc. use the 230 VAC
receptacle.
VOLTAGE RECEPTACLES
115 VAC
230 VAC
Ground
wire
Neutral
Hot
Ground
Hot wires

Wires:

◦ Hot (red/black wire)
◦ Neutral (white wire)
◦ Ground (bare copper wire)

Screws:
◦ Brass (for hot wire)
◦ Silver (for neutral wire)
◦ Green with green dot
(ground wire)
115 VAC
Wires:
◦ Hot (red wire)
◦ Hot (black wire)
◦ Ground (bare copper wire)

Screws:
◦ Brass (for hot wire)
◦ Brass (for hot wire)
◦ Green with green dot
(ground wire)
230 VAC
HOUSEHOLD WIRING FOR ROOMS:
 For rooms:
Within the first 6ft of an entrance into a room, there should be an
120volt receptacle outlet and then for every other 12ft there should
be an outlet.
 For the kitchen:
The outlets should be a minimum of 2ft apart.
 Receptacle connection:
On the side of ground the 2 neutral wires are stripped ½ inch and
pushed in the hole. Make sure to pull on it to check that it does not
come out. Now strip the black wires ¼ inch, push them into the hole
opposite of ground.
14 W gauge for bedrooms, hallways, living rooms, and all ceilings.
Duplex Receptacles:
 Some duplexes have 5 wires going into the receptacle, while others have 3 wires
going into the receptacle.
 If a circuit is a feeder to the other circuits, then it has 5 wires: 2 neutral (white),
2 hot (black/red), 1 ground (bare copper wire). The 5 wires you see are actually
power coming in and coming out.
 If it is the end of a circuit, then it has 3 wires: 1 neutral (white), 1 hot
(black/red), 1 ground (bare copper wire)
 Every receptacle holds 15 Amperes of Current. Kitchen appliances have 20
Amperes of Current and Dryers have 30 Amperes of Current.
 Every wire has an adjacent screw
GFCI
-GFCI: Stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt. This
receptacles is different from conventional
receptacles. In the event of a ground fault, a GFCI
will trip and quickly stop the flow of electricity to
prevent serious injury.
-For kitchens and bathrooms with sinks, GFI
protection receptacles are required for anything
between 6ft from water. Make sure everything is
grounded for safety purposes.
-When does a ground fault occur? It occurs when
electricity passes through a persons body to reach
the ground instead of following its normal path.
-GFCI receptacles protect against circuit overloads,
short circuits, or shocks.
-For GFCI’s, a 12 W gauge is required which is
thicker than the 14 W gauge.
GFCI CONTINUED…

The GFCI receptacle itself has the Test and
Reset buttons. The reciprocal feeling into the
GFCI main no reciprocal has no Reset/Test
buttons, but will indicate GFCI stickers on them.
not GFCI GFCI
•
A single pole (one location) or a 3 way (multiple locations) can be put
only on the incandescent.
•
You will see 4 colored wires on the dimmer. Blue, yellow, black and
green.
Connecting wires for dimmer:
•
Green dimmer Ground leads to Green or
copper wire in wall box.
•
Black dimmer lead to Line (hot) wall box
wire removed from old switch.
•
Blue Dimmer lead to remaining wall box wire
(Load)
•
Cap Yellow dimmer lead with appropriate
size wire nut.
•REGULAR MEDIUM BASE: used in regular fixtures
•MOGUL BASE: is thicker and is used for street lights
•CANDELABRA BASE: is smaller and is used in paddle/ceiling fan
fixtures
*On a ceiling fan which has lights, always use a A15
lamp because the filament is thicker and it will last
longer even though the fan causes vibration*
*G-style lamps are used in bathrooms*
*Fluorescent lamps are used under cabinets and
countertops, and are available only up to a wattage of
32 Watts instead of 40 Watts*
Gang Box
•The Gang Box must be UL listed in approval for
electrical work. Deep Gang Boxes are maximum
of 22.5cubic inches.
•Inside the house : All gang boxes must be UL
approved.
•Outside the house the gangs used must be UL
approved and suitable for dampness/wet
conditions.
•According to Title 24 everything in the home i.e.
Bathroom, Kitchen, underneath the cabinets,
laundry room, outside light should have
incandescent lights.
Low Voltage Wires
Red……Computer-CAT5
White….RG6-TV, SAT, DSL, Cameras
Black…..RG6-””
Blue……Phone-CAT5
You can use red alone but to differentiate
between computer wires and phone wires
you use different colors.
High Voltage Wires
14/ 2- 15A :is a 14G wire black, white, and ground
used for lighting wiring bedroom plug switches.
anything rated up to 15A.
 12/ 2- 20A :is a 12G wire, black, white, ground,
yellow wire for identification.
 12/ 3- 20A :is a 12G wire black (hot) white
(neutral), red (hot), and ground. In this there are
2 hot wires in one wire. If you have two circuits in
the same area then you could use black for one
circuit & jump the other circuits through red wires
especially in General appliances.

High Voltage wires Continued
10 Gauge/30 A: is Orange in color used
for Dryers or Ovens if under 30 A. it is
also used for Air conditioning if no more
than 30A is required
 8 Gauge/40/50 A: is a Black wire and is
used in ovens that are over 30 A.
 6 Gauge/50/60 A: is used only in Air
Conditioners and Ovens that have very
high amperage

Low
voltage enclosure: TV, Telephone, computers,
cameras, speaker DVR, i.e. communication, run one main
limit is 2RG6 (TV coax) cat 5- phone line or computer line.
When it says TV run 1RG6 i.e. Black wire.
……………..Phone
P…………………Plug
TV……………….TV
On/Q…………….All 4 wires drop (2cat5 and 2RG6)
High Voltage……Stapled every 4ft 6in
Low Voltage…….Not stapled tightly
1RG6……………TV Only
2RG6……………TV & DVR & HD
Rough Stage Continued…
RG6-Quad shield: a type of wire that helps to
give a better signal, but not a better picture.
(You could run High Definition signals like
Comcast Internet Company with RG6)
 The wires going into every gang box should
be stapled within 6 inches of the box, on the
wood.
 The wires going into Double or Triple boxes,
should be 12 inches away from the box on
the wood.
