Theoretically, room lights should never be on the same circuits as any large appliances.Why? Because if the appliance, be it a refrigerator, a large TV or a hot electric fry pan, blows a fuse, you don't want to be thrown in the dark.When these are on the same circuits, on the same fuse or circui...
You can get an idea of the total power possible to bring into the house by looking at the main fuses or breakers -- not the set of ordinary ones that you replace or reset often. The main breakers are in the top of, or above, or between the regular electrical box and the electrical meter. There ...
Plastic covered wires that run along the top of your baseboards are dangerous, because they can easily be damaged. It is so easy to just add a wire like this that it is often done, with extension cords, or even regular wiring simply being nailed to the baseboards to keep them off the floor.If th...
David wants the electrical outlet in the bathroom to be on all the time and not just when the light switch is on. How do you wire that, he asks?You may or may not be able to do it with the existing wires.Start by opening up the light electrical box. Turn off the light switch. Measure the volta...
Nancy from Welland, Ontario has had a terrible saga with her electrical appliances literally blowing up. We have been writing to each other for some while now trying to find the elusive problem. Read it through, you may learn about how to hunt down problems, and learn a bit about electrical sys...
Knob and tube wiring is safe if it is in good condition and it is doing no more than it was designed to do. In fact it was an very good wiring system designed to keep the two wires far apart from each other and well protected as it ran through the house.What could make it unsafe?Rodents gnawing ...
When you are working in an older house and pull down that ceiling light fixture, you may discover a wiring job that could be endangering your house. By code, and for good reason, all electrical connections must be made inside metal boxes that are accessible. That means that you don't cover junc...
Rebecca from Cold Lake, Alberta wants to dim her three-way switchs. Can she do it? No and Yes. I know you like that kind of an answer. So read carefully. In fact I don't think I was perfectly clear about this when I did the segment on the TV show, judging by the confusion I heard after it wa...
Shawn from Nepean, Ontario writes: "My mother wants to replace all of her baseboard heaters but has been told that all new heaters are 220v and her home has only 110v. My question to you Jon is how can I tell for sure if Mom's home is 110v and if so, what can we do to replace her baseboard heate...
On other shows we talked about wiring in ceiling fans -- today we dealt simply with how to attach it to the ceiling so that it does not come down on top of the bed like a giant blender.You cannot just attach it to the ceiling drywall.You cannot just attach it to a simple electrical box in the att...
