Charles Wilson
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I am looking to learn about doing some household wiring. Can anyone suggest any good books?
Thanks,
Chuck
Thanks,
Chuck
Electrical/Wiring Manual Suggestions
- Thread starter Charles Wilson
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Dave Ronyak
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I agree that the DIY books at HD and Lowe's are good. I that I perused a couple of years ago was formatted like a little flip-top chart (or an old Steno notepad), and had very easy to understand multicolor diagrams as well as summaries of the USA National Electrical Code. The Reader's Digest DIY book also contains clear diagrams, e.g. for wiring including various lighting situations in which the order of the light, the switch, the feed, and the rest of the electrical circuit are changed. And various 3-way switch, lamp, and feed circuits.
Dave R.
Dave R.
brandon.nickel
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Well, it's definitely overkill, but when I needed to replace my electrical service and wire my garage/workshop (the first time), I went and purchase the NEC Handbook. It's about 1200 pages and goes through the entire NEC with diagrams and explanations. Most of it won't apply to you, but if there's a question, that's the definitive source. I had to break it out to prove the electrical inspector wrong about a small detail he was planning to fail me for. Can't remember off the top of my head what it was. Just the feeling of satisfaction of being right (and being able to prove it).
Mike_Chrest
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Chuck,
I would recommend taking a basic wiring course at a junior college. The one I took met once a week at nights and was fairly inexpensive. There were all age groups in the class, men & women.
We went through the whole NEC book and practiced examples. We got to practice pulling wire on rough framed walls, hooking up three way switches, and wiring panel boxes.
You can learn this stuff from a book but the class was fun and the instructor can point out any mistakes you make. I would rather not learn this stuff by trial and error.
Mike
I would recommend taking a basic wiring course at a junior college. The one I took met once a week at nights and was fairly inexpensive. There were all age groups in the class, men & women.
We went through the whole NEC book and practiced examples. We got to practice pulling wire on rough framed walls, hooking up three way switches, and wiring panel boxes.
You can learn this stuff from a book but the class was fun and the instructor can point out any mistakes you make. I would rather not learn this stuff by trial and error.
Mike
I think the book that Dave Ronyak is referring to is "Code Check Electrical" from Taunton Press. I have "Code Check Complete" that I bought to do quick verifications during our recent house-hunting, and I believe that it's just a compilation of all 4 of the other books in the "Code Check" series, Building, Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical. And it costs $40, and I'm sure that the individual smaller books cost $25-30 each, so the "Complete" is a deal.
There are a few questions it isn't answering (I need to do a little more research about acceptable topologies for circuits, and how they should be laid out for bedrooms and living rooms, although it's pretty complete for bathrooms and kitchens), but it has been a fantastic little resource, especially for looking at an existing setup and calling out the problems with it. I highly recommend it.
There are a few questions it isn't answering (I need to do a little more research about acceptable topologies for circuits, and how they should be laid out for bedrooms and living rooms, although it's pretty complete for bathrooms and kitchens), but it has been a fantastic little resource, especially for looking at an existing setup and calling out the problems with it. I highly recommend it.
Dave Ronyak
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I only had the Reader's Digest DIY book and several general DIY books on homebuilding. But they were more than enough, including for installation of a new service entry when moving from 100A to 200A and relocation of the lead wires, anchor, mast and drop, and feeding the heavy AL cable through the masonry and framed wall, and conduit for the two main branches. The county inspector tried to give me a hard time over the conduit and wanted me to replace it with Romex style cable, but I resisted and he knew as well as I that the conduit was superior in terms of safety. I think the fact that I knew about and had special ordered and correctly installed a 220V GFI circuit breaker (to feed my planer sitting on a concrete garage floor, which garage had water supply lines) impressed the inspector, as well as neatly ordered work. If I was ever unsure about how to wire a circuit, I would first draw it out on paper, they go to the job.
You might also consider hiring a licensed electrician and agreeing with him on you adding additional runs and outlets before the official inspection. I did this where I currently live because the city inspectors have a reputation of being very strict, and the city code prohibits anyone from wiring his own house unless they first pass a test given by the city. I gave the electrical contractor a set of drawings for the modifications to my house, which also included adding a new garage bay and moving the electrical, telephone and TV cable. He did the heavy work, and allowed me to add circuits and outlets. It turned out that his crew was so time efficient that I had them install the ceiling mounting light fixtures in the garage shop. They did in a couple of hours what would have taken me a couple of days! On the other hand, I enlightened them a bit regarding whole house surge protection and adding some 220V GFI circuit breakers. Both the electrician and the inspector were skeptical about those 220V GFI breakers, so they tested them and determined that they worked as I predicted they would. (I was not present when the inspection occurred; my wife and the electrician told me later.)
Dave R.
You might also consider hiring a licensed electrician and agreeing with him on you adding additional runs and outlets before the official inspection. I did this where I currently live because the city inspectors have a reputation of being very strict, and the city code prohibits anyone from wiring his own house unless they first pass a test given by the city. I gave the electrical contractor a set of drawings for the modifications to my house, which also included adding a new garage bay and moving the electrical, telephone and TV cable. He did the heavy work, and allowed me to add circuits and outlets. It turned out that his crew was so time efficient that I had them install the ceiling mounting light fixtures in the garage shop. They did in a couple of hours what would have taken me a couple of days! On the other hand, I enlightened them a bit regarding whole house surge protection and adding some 220V GFI circuit breakers. Both the electrician and the inspector were skeptical about those 220V GFI breakers, so they tested them and determined that they worked as I predicted they would. (I was not present when the inspection occurred; my wife and the electrician told me later.)
Dave R.
Dave Ronyak
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Greg_R said:
You might also simply call your local building inspection department. Although that group in my city (Akron, OH) has earned a reputation for being very stringent, they are approachable, fair, and very willing to help by answering questions. I was able to get specific answers to specific questions in advance of doing the planned work. You may also find that your local code deviates from the current national code regarding the specific installation you are planning, so that call could save you from rework. On the other hand, I have also experienced building inspection department personnel who refuse to give such information and tell you to install it, then call them and then they will look at it and tell you whether or not it is acceptable. That is not a very helpful approach. If you encounter the latter type, you will have to be "armed" with the correct code information and be prepared to discuss with the inspector.
Dave R.
I have several books on wiring a house. However, my two best references are:
Rex Cauldwell's "Wiring a House" from Taunton Press. It's not as thick as some others, but it has the important information, and a bunch of tips and tricks. It talks about doing things to an NEC "Code Standard" and to an "Above The Code Standard". An excellent resource, IMO. http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/070639.html ($24.95)
"Code Check Electrical", also from Taunton Press. They rigorously eliminate every excess word. Most of the information is in pictures. It includes cross references to NEC 2002 and 2005. It is probably the single most concise electrical reference I've ever seen. Just excellent! ($17.95) http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/070812.html
Regards,
Dan.
Rex Cauldwell's "Wiring a House" from Taunton Press. It's not as thick as some others, but it has the important information, and a bunch of tips and tricks. It talks about doing things to an NEC "Code Standard" and to an "Above The Code Standard". An excellent resource, IMO. http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/070639.html ($24.95)
"Code Check Electrical", also from Taunton Press. They rigorously eliminate every excess word. Most of the information is in pictures. It includes cross references to NEC 2002 and 2005. It is probably the single most concise electrical reference I've ever seen. Just excellent! ($17.95) http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/070812.html
Regards,
Dan.
I've rewired three houses and read enough books on the subject (and consulted enough electricians) to know what I'm doing, and, more importantly, know when I encounter something that I don't know what I'm doing with.
I highly recommend Black & Decker's "The Complete Guide to Home Wiring" for its exceptional color photos and diagrams. I recently purchased another similar book by Creative Homeowner called the "Ultimate Guide to Home Wiring." It's a great compliment to the Black and Decker book. It has really great explanations of electricity and how it works. I also recommend the For Pros by Pros "Wiring a House" book. It's a bit more advanced and covers some situations the others don't.
On a separate note, I recommend the book "Wiring Simplified." It's sold at Home Depot stores and is usually found not on the book racks but rather in the electrical department where you find wire nuts, etc. But, be very careful when you buy this book. I see on Amazon that now there is a new edition based on the 2008 electrical code. Home Depot is still usually selling the edition based on the 2005 code, and I even see many Home Depots still selling the edition based on the 2002 code!
Anyway, I highly, highly recommend reading "Wiring Simplified" from cover to cover. It's a relatively small, brief book that will give you a good basic understanding of how houses are currently wired--and why. I can't recommend all of these books enough, but especially "Wiring Simplified."
I'd buy them in this order:
1. Wiring Simplified (read this first)
Note: Here's a link to "Wiring Simplified." There are other similar titles, but this is the one you want. This is the 2008 version (look at the red area at the top of the front cover), which apparently is available quite yet, though you can preorder it. If you need something now, get the edition of this book based on the 2005 code:
http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/0971977933/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203830453&sr=8-1
2. Wiring a House for Pros by Pros (read this second)
3. Creative Homeowner's Ultimate Guide to Home Wiring (read at least the early chapters of this book)
4. Black and Decker's Complete Guide to Home Wiring (you might read only some of this, but it is a superb reference for clear photos and wiring diagrams)
I highly recommend Black & Decker's "The Complete Guide to Home Wiring" for its exceptional color photos and diagrams. I recently purchased another similar book by Creative Homeowner called the "Ultimate Guide to Home Wiring." It's a great compliment to the Black and Decker book. It has really great explanations of electricity and how it works. I also recommend the For Pros by Pros "Wiring a House" book. It's a bit more advanced and covers some situations the others don't.
On a separate note, I recommend the book "Wiring Simplified." It's sold at Home Depot stores and is usually found not on the book racks but rather in the electrical department where you find wire nuts, etc. But, be very careful when you buy this book. I see on Amazon that now there is a new edition based on the 2008 electrical code. Home Depot is still usually selling the edition based on the 2005 code, and I even see many Home Depots still selling the edition based on the 2002 code!
Anyway, I highly, highly recommend reading "Wiring Simplified" from cover to cover. It's a relatively small, brief book that will give you a good basic understanding of how houses are currently wired--and why. I can't recommend all of these books enough, but especially "Wiring Simplified."
I'd buy them in this order:
1. Wiring Simplified (read this first)
Note: Here's a link to "Wiring Simplified." There are other similar titles, but this is the one you want. This is the 2008 version (look at the red area at the top of the front cover), which apparently is available quite yet, though you can preorder it. If you need something now, get the edition of this book based on the 2005 code:
http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/0971977933/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203830453&sr=8-1
2. Wiring a House for Pros by Pros (read this second)
3. Creative Homeowner's Ultimate Guide to Home Wiring (read at least the early chapters of this book)
4. Black and Decker's Complete Guide to Home Wiring (you might read only some of this, but it is a superb reference for clear photos and wiring diagrams)
I just wanted to pop back into this thread and throw a big "thank you " at Dan Clark for recommending Rex Cauldwell's "Wiring A House". Answered a number of questions I had, I'm going to be replacing some parts I've already bought, and I'm going to go pull the permit today or Friday so I can start mashing holes in the wall.
Really good reference!
Really good reference!
I second the Rex Cauldwell reference. Please note that the latest version (3rd edition) has just been released. There are some expanded sections on AFCI's and standby generator installation. I finally broke down and bought the book for myself as the library copy was well worn.
Chris
Chris
robtonya
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I wired a 100 amp sup panel off of my 200 amp main, I used the Home Depot wiring 123, and asked the local electrical contracter (who also sells supplies) alot of questions. I didn't get an inspection though, sometimes I wish I would of, for a resale value, but then again it is for my kids playhouse. I can just take it with me when I move. A side note here, How many kids that you know of that have a playhouse with heat,air conditioning,cable TV (24"lcd flatscreen), Xbox 360, and I drywalled the inside, put up track lighting, and had Lowes come out and install Mohawk carpet(Lowes at first didn't want to but, I went back on a different day, and just told them it was a kids room). The whole thing has a shingle roof, and vinle siding, with a little front porch, and a little front door. Iwould post pictures, but I still havent got the hang of that gimp software.
I just ordered the Code Check Complete book and plan on getting another of the books mentioned soon. I already have the B&D book, but I like it more for the pictures than the articles 
I've got 200 amp service but my house only has a 100amp box, so I'm working on upgrading that to 200amp with a whole house surge suppressor, putting conduit around the back of the house to my garage/shop, installing a 50amp sub-panel, and a few odd outlets. I've had one electrician come out and estimate that in the neighborhood of $2500. I am trying to get a second electrician out here, but so far I've had 2 just not call me back. The guy that gave me the estimate said I could save $500 or so by not getting a permit so I wouldn't have to re-ground the new box to the water main with larger gauge wire. I was under the impression that water wasn't used for grounding any more, but the B&D book has almost no detail about that.
There are some things I'd feel ok doing myself, like adding outlets to an existing circuit, and some things I'm not qualified to do like upgrade my panel. I'm trying to get the big stuff done, by a pro and extend the outlets around the garage and such myself to help keep the price as low as possible.
I've got 200 amp service but my house only has a 100amp box, so I'm working on upgrading that to 200amp with a whole house surge suppressor, putting conduit around the back of the house to my garage/shop, installing a 50amp sub-panel, and a few odd outlets. I've had one electrician come out and estimate that in the neighborhood of $2500. I am trying to get a second electrician out here, but so far I've had 2 just not call me back. The guy that gave me the estimate said I could save $500 or so by not getting a permit so I wouldn't have to re-ground the new box to the water main with larger gauge wire. I was under the impression that water wasn't used for grounding any more, but the B&D book has almost no detail about that.
There are some things I'd feel ok doing myself, like adding outlets to an existing circuit, and some things I'm not qualified to do like upgrade my panel. I'm trying to get the big stuff done, by a pro and extend the outlets around the garage and such myself to help keep the price as low as possible.
robtonya
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Graphex, when I ran my 100 amp subpanel, I grounded it with an 8 foot long copper rod in the ground. If you do go that route, let me know, I can pass on a tip to help bury it, with almost no tools, and it took me less than a minute to do it. The key is not to force it, dig a small hole, where the rod will go, and put water in the hole, then take the rod and using only your hands,pushit in the ground, when the rod starts to feel like it is getting harder to push pull it up, then push some more, keep doing that and it will fall right in the ground, and I have almost a clay type soil under the first foot of soil. I have seen people get about two feet down, and start trying to hammer it in, spend hours, and the rod is all bent to hell. If you have any general questions about your project, I can try to help.
Graphex, we recently replaced a 60 amp fuse box with a 200 amp panel and three circuits in the garage (two GFI utility, one for the washer and (gas) dryer) and arc fault breakers for the bedroom, with permits, for just under $2k. This includes probably 40 feet of conduit. my "Contractor's Pricing Guide 2007 Means Residential Square Foot Costs" says the local multiplier should be about 1.2 (and gives a similar number for price).
I don't have a price for the whole house surge suppressor, but what you describe sounds like it'd be in that price range.
We're planning on doing the rest of the electrical ourselves (and I hope that the other book you've ordered is the Rex Cauldwell book...), but because I figured that PG&E would rather deal with a licensed electrician for the switch between the panels and I needed a few circuits for tools that I really trusted, we figured that was a good baseline to have someone else do. And even though we're doing it ourselves, we're planning on permitting everything because we figure it's actually a cheap way to get an extra set of eyes on our work. We also told our electrician up front that we planned to do the rest of the work ourselves, but that we wanted someone we could hire occasionally to give us strategic suggestions about work going forward.
I believe that the "grounding the water pipe" issue isn't that grounding to the water pipe is code, it's that the water pipe needs to be tied to ground for a variety of reasons, and for all the obvious reasons you don't want two independent grounds. You want water pipes grounded in case, for instance, an appliance falls into a sink or a bathtub, or lightning decides to use plumbing as its path to earth, or things like that.
I don't have a price for the whole house surge suppressor, but what you describe sounds like it'd be in that price range.
We're planning on doing the rest of the electrical ourselves (and I hope that the other book you've ordered is the Rex Cauldwell book...), but because I figured that PG&E would rather deal with a licensed electrician for the switch between the panels and I needed a few circuits for tools that I really trusted, we figured that was a good baseline to have someone else do. And even though we're doing it ourselves, we're planning on permitting everything because we figure it's actually a cheap way to get an extra set of eyes on our work. We also told our electrician up front that we planned to do the rest of the work ourselves, but that we wanted someone we could hire occasionally to give us strategic suggestions about work going forward.
I believe that the "grounding the water pipe" issue isn't that grounding to the water pipe is code, it's that the water pipe needs to be tied to ground for a variety of reasons, and for all the obvious reasons you don't want two independent grounds. You want water pipes grounded in case, for instance, an appliance falls into a sink or a bathtub, or lightning decides to use plumbing as its path to earth, or things like that.
Dave Ronyak
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Graphex,
I have twice worked through a garage/shop addition which entailed changing out the main service entry and upgrading it from 100A to 200A.
I strongly recommend that you check and confirm with a qualified and licensed electrical contractor or your local electrical inspector the idea of adding a grounding rod that is coupled to a newly added service sub-panel. My understanding is that this is not a recommended practice, and may be forbidden by codes in some areas. Instead of multiple gounding rods, in my area (Akron, Ohio) all sub-panel boxes are required to be connected via appropriately sized bare single conductor copper wire back to the grounding (neutral) buss bar of the main service entry panel which is required to be connected by a similar wire to the gounding rod. The reason for this requirement is to prevent high current flows in reverse directions in event of a breach or short somewhere within the system within the building structure.
The first time I did all the work myself excepting pushing the meter into the new base mount which my electric utility company gave to me knowing I was not a licensed electrician! However, that utility company representative visited my site and saw my other work including installation of a new 100A sub panel and connection of the original 125A panel to the new main panel, and that everything else was up to or in excess of code at that time (I used metal conduit instead of Romex type cable to feed the sub panels from the new main panel. The ace up my sleeve was a good neighbor who happened to be the chief electrician at General Tire Company. He ensured I followed good practices and had the right components and NoAlox paste - especially important since a portion of the old part of my sytem used aluminum wire.
The second project was my present house to which I added a new bay to an existing 2-car garage for use as a garage/shop. The electrical service entry, main electrical panel, telephone and TV cable all had to be re-routed and installed on/through/under the to-be-built new garage bay. Again I acted as my own general contractor, but I hired a licensed electrical contractor to do most of the heavy work. We agreed on a fixed price for a list of specific tasks, and he supplied most of the hardware. We also agreed that I would run additional circuits and outlet boxes and he would check those before the electrical inspector came. I think I installed more branches and outlets than the contractor did, but he he still made good money, and he did the hardest work including installation of metal boxes within existing brick work. For surge protection, we installed one of Siemens' surge protection double pole (Single Phase, 230V) breakers which shunts excess voltage spikes to the neutral/grounding buss. This protector also can function as a pair of 20A, 125V ordinary circuit breakers, even after it gets "zapped" due to overcurrent/voltage spikes. A diode in each circuit lets you know at a glance if it is functioning properly. The cost of one of these surge protectors was about $100 in 2002. I highly recommend them. Light bulbs last a lot longer in my present house than in my former house, and both are served by the same electric utility company in adjacent communities.
Dave R.
I have twice worked through a garage/shop addition which entailed changing out the main service entry and upgrading it from 100A to 200A.
I strongly recommend that you check and confirm with a qualified and licensed electrical contractor or your local electrical inspector the idea of adding a grounding rod that is coupled to a newly added service sub-panel. My understanding is that this is not a recommended practice, and may be forbidden by codes in some areas. Instead of multiple gounding rods, in my area (Akron, Ohio) all sub-panel boxes are required to be connected via appropriately sized bare single conductor copper wire back to the grounding (neutral) buss bar of the main service entry panel which is required to be connected by a similar wire to the gounding rod. The reason for this requirement is to prevent high current flows in reverse directions in event of a breach or short somewhere within the system within the building structure.
The first time I did all the work myself excepting pushing the meter into the new base mount which my electric utility company gave to me knowing I was not a licensed electrician! However, that utility company representative visited my site and saw my other work including installation of a new 100A sub panel and connection of the original 125A panel to the new main panel, and that everything else was up to or in excess of code at that time (I used metal conduit instead of Romex type cable to feed the sub panels from the new main panel. The ace up my sleeve was a good neighbor who happened to be the chief electrician at General Tire Company. He ensured I followed good practices and had the right components and NoAlox paste - especially important since a portion of the old part of my sytem used aluminum wire.
The second project was my present house to which I added a new bay to an existing 2-car garage for use as a garage/shop. The electrical service entry, main electrical panel, telephone and TV cable all had to be re-routed and installed on/through/under the to-be-built new garage bay. Again I acted as my own general contractor, but I hired a licensed electrical contractor to do most of the heavy work. We agreed on a fixed price for a list of specific tasks, and he supplied most of the hardware. We also agreed that I would run additional circuits and outlet boxes and he would check those before the electrical inspector came. I think I installed more branches and outlets than the contractor did, but he he still made good money, and he did the hardest work including installation of metal boxes within existing brick work. For surge protection, we installed one of Siemens' surge protection double pole (Single Phase, 230V) breakers which shunts excess voltage spikes to the neutral/grounding buss. This protector also can function as a pair of 20A, 125V ordinary circuit breakers, even after it gets "zapped" due to overcurrent/voltage spikes. A diode in each circuit lets you know at a glance if it is functioning properly. The cost of one of these surge protectors was about $100 in 2002. I highly recommend them. Light bulbs last a lot longer in my present house than in my former house, and both are served by the same electric utility company in adjacent communities.
Dave R.
