What does it mean when you see a red outlet with a black triangle on the face? That means that the ground wire on the outlet does not connect with the ground wire on the metal box. Rather it has its own grounding system, designed to keep motor generated parasites from affecting delicate electro...
Here is a question and answer that you might find interesting."When we take a shower in the second bathroom of our house we bet a mild tingling when we touch the fixtures that the water comes out of. Our guest and family are really funny. They think that the tingling is because they feel inv...
Can you have it both ways? Now with battery converters, transformers that are the shape and size of your power tool batteries, you can plug your cordless tools into the wall when you need power and the batteries aren't charged. This 24volt battery converter was made by DeWalt.Well that was a goo...
Mrya from Mt. Pearl Newfoundland writes:Which way is the right way for our electrical outlet? This is the reason for asking. I now have an apartment in my sons house which was finished in the last twelve months. The house itself is not a new one. Anyway, I bought one of those plug in light...
Revised November 2, 2004Should electrical outlets be installed with the ground pin up or down?There is a lot of debate and few regulations on this question.The first time I got asked this question, it came from Newfoundland. You can see my answer to that question by searching for ""Outlets"" in...
We had to go to the Dimplex factory in Toronto to find out how they make a smoke-and-mirrors fireplace look really really like a real wood fire. It is quite amazing. The flames are a rotisserie of aluminum foil reflecting lights up and off a mirror.The bricks on the back of the fireplace are ac...
Mike in Brampton Ontario offers the suggestion that when electrical boxes are too far inside the wall for the electrical outlet or switch to sit firmly on the box, you could add washers to the mounting screws. This will shim the outlet forward and make it possible to screw it down firmly whe...
Sometimes the dimmer hums and sometimes the light itself hums. What is happening and how can it be stopped?Not too long ago we had light dimmers that were simple rheostats. These would lower the voltage going to an ordinary light bulb and it would dim. No problems. But because we have devel...
You should not put any insulation or sealing materials inside the electrical boxes as the air space is needed to keep the wires from overheating.In new construction we set the electrical box inside a "poly-pan" which then seals down to the vapour barrier, giving an air-tight electrical box. ...
Frank is confused about series and parallel wiring. He wants to connect a small and a large baseboard heater to one thermostat and isn't sure how to go about it.Although physically the wires will run from the thermostat to one of the baseboards and then on to the other baseboard, the way they...
