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Electrical repairs, changes and
enhancements in a home are an accepted part of
home ownership.
Many items, such as repairing or adding a switch
or receptacle, hanging a fan with a light or wiring a basement
are items which a handyman should be able to complete with
relative ease.
The
following list will guide you to additional
information on each aspect of electrical repair
and improvement for your home. |
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A 3-way switch is used to turn a light fixture "OFF" and "ON" from two locations. |
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A 4-way switch is used to turn a light fixture "OFF" and "ON" from three or more locations. |
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If you are planning on finishing a basement or adding an
addition to your home one of the requirements to consider is
what items will need electrical service. |
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When the approval agencies in the early 60's approved the use of
aluminum wiring in homes, they did it without a lot of thought
or testing. |
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A new electrical safety device for homes,
called an arc fault circuit interrupter or AFCI, is expected to
provide enhanced protection from fires resulting from these unsafe
home wiring conditions. |
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To understand how to wire a new ceiling fan and or ceiling fan light
combo unit in your home you must first understand the basics of how
the fans and lights are powered. |
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Installing Christmas Lights -
Indoors,
Outdoors
Christmas season is upon us and as we commence to decorate our homes with
lights it is important to remember that overloading electrical circuits is a
common occurrence at this time of year. |
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PVC electrical conduit is an easy product to work with. A hacksaw, or a
conduit cutter, if you are planning on doing a lot of conduit work, and a tape
measure are the only tools required. |
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Working with electricity, to make an electrical device such as a
light go on or off is very simple if you follow some basic
guidelines and absorb the basic principles. |
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One of the most common mistakes
that is made during any renovation or construction project is using the wrong
size extension cord to supply electricity to power tools. This mistake is
made be contractors and home handymen alike.
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With walls and ceilings finished getting a new electrical circuit, the
continuation of an older electrical circuit, cable, satellite feeds or speaker
wires from point A to point B generally requires a lot of thought and ingenuity. |
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Electrical distribution fuse panels have become obsolete and in many
jurisdictions a homeowner cannot get home insurance if they have a fuse panel
installed. |
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The GFCI is designed to protect people from severe or fatal
electric shocks Because a GFCI detects ground faults, it can
also prevent some electrical fires and reduce the severity of
others by interrupting the flow of electric current. |
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IP ratings are used
where water is present near the light source. IP ratings ("Ingress Protection")
are also used in conjunction with zones. |
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The kitchen area requires more power than any other area in a
home. If you have an older home, you may face the problem
of not having enough additional or spare circuits available to
properly supply power to your new and updated kitchen. |
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Knob and tube wiring has not been used in homes since the 1950's
and the question that must be asked, is how has it been
maintained and upgraded. |
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If you have a need to provide power in your landscaping project for lighting and
motors such as pond pumps, there are some things that you should consider.
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A motion detector is an automatic
switch. Many outdoor light fixtures have built in or
integral motion detectors. However in many cases it is
desirable to have the motion detector separate from the light
fixture. |
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Most individuals require power in all buildings on their property, and if that
building is not physically connected to the house, you will need to run the
power from the home to the outbuilding. |
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Your home’s electricity is delivered
to your home through overhead wires or an underground feed.
This feed is connected to your electrical meter socket. |
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If you are adding an addition, finishing a basement or performing
any major remodel that involves the addition of receptacles and / or
switches you should consider their height and location. |
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There are so many beautiful flooring materials for bathrooms,
kitchens, and family rooms, yet they all have a major drawback.
They are cool and sometimes very cold to the touch. |
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The vast majority of home electrical receptacles fall into
5
categories (the style of the receptacle (standard or decorator) does
not change how it is installed: |
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The National Electrical Code (NEC) provides maximum distances
from walls and other obstructions and between individual
receptacles. This is called the 6 / 12 rule. |
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Anytime one considers opening up a wall for a pass-through, doorway or as a
combining of two rooms, you face the possibility of finding cables and wires
running through the area that you want to remove. |
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Having two wires or circuits on a breaker generally occurs
because the home has required additional receptacles or
lighting. |
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Stand-by generators provide security
and a level of comfort in the event of a utility power failure. They
can maintain indoor climate, provide lighting, keep food from spoiling
and allow a family to function. |
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Structured wiring is the term used to describe a relatively new
method of providing service throughout your home for all of your
low voltage requirements. |
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An electrical sub-panel provides you with additional electrical
circuits. It does not change the amount of power available
to the home. |
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If you are upgrading your home
electrical service, you should consider the addition of a “whole house”
surge protector. |
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Lights with pull cords are a common occurrence in basements and closets and as
most are not overly aesthetic many homeowners wish to change them to a standard
light fixture with a switch. |
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The
most common and least expensive is the toggle on/off switch. This
switch controls the power running in an electrical circuit. With
the switch in the off position the continuity of the circuit is
broken with the switch in the on position the circuit continuity is
completed. |
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Installing a new telephone jack in your home is
not a complex project. The greatest amount
of difficult is to get the cable from any
currently live telephone jack or open piece of
wire to the location of the new telephone jack. |
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Nothing is more frustrating in a home than having lights that
blink or work sometimes and not others.
Troubleshooting a flickering light electrical circuit can take
hours, but with a little patience and planning you can find the
problem and correct it. |
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If you are undertaking any electrical project it
is important that you follow some basic rules
when it comes to stripping and terminating
electrical wire. |
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Residential electrical wiring can be confusing at the best of times. The
size of the electrical service coming into the home and how to take that service
and deliver the various power requirement through-out the home. |
