As a home inspector, I often hear my clients say, “I am going to put in new lights my self”. Of all the projects in the home, the scariest and the most mysterious projects involve electricity. It is very wise to do the research before jumping into this project. You will find that besides knowing the proper safety procedures, the actual work is pretty easy.
For the do-it-yourselfer, I recommend that you turn off the electricity at the main panel, but remember that this does not always kill all the power. Some main panels have a true main that will kill all the power to the house. Some panels may have a circuit breaker that is marked 'main', but this circuit breaker may only turn off some circuits, leaving others on. Some panels are designed so that it takes up to six breakers to suspend all the power to the house. Some panels may be wired incorrectly making it impossible to turn off all the power.
The only way to make sure that you are not working with live wires is to test the wires on which you are going to work. This can be done with an inexpensive no-contact circuit tester. You simply put it on a wire that has insulation and it tells you if it is live or not.
In common house circuits, the black wire is usually the hot wire and the white wire is the neutral wire, but both have the potential to carry current. With this in mind, you should turn off the current at the main panel and still check each wire with your tester before touching them.
One of the most common mistakes is turning off the light switch and thinking that just because the light went out the wires are not hot. Switches can be wired to the neutral (which is improper) leaving power at the light even when the switch is turned off.
Do your research. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions, and most of all, be safe.
For the do-it-yourselfer, I recommend that you turn off the electricity at the main panel, but remember that this does not always kill all the power. Some main panels have a true main that will kill all the power to the house. Some panels may have a circuit breaker that is marked 'main', but this circuit breaker may only turn off some circuits, leaving others on. Some panels are designed so that it takes up to six breakers to suspend all the power to the house. Some panels may be wired incorrectly making it impossible to turn off all the power.
The only way to make sure that you are not working with live wires is to test the wires on which you are going to work. This can be done with an inexpensive no-contact circuit tester. You simply put it on a wire that has insulation and it tells you if it is live or not.
In common house circuits, the black wire is usually the hot wire and the white wire is the neutral wire, but both have the potential to carry current. With this in mind, you should turn off the current at the main panel and still check each wire with your tester before touching them.
One of the most common mistakes is turning off the light switch and thinking that just because the light went out the wires are not hot. Switches can be wired to the neutral (which is improper) leaving power at the light even when the switch is turned off.
Do your research. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions, and most of all, be safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment