How Are Electrical Outlets Connected in a Home?
Electrical outlets usually are in every room of a home. Knowing how they are connected, will help in troubleshooting what is happening when an outlet doesn't work. This will also help in making repairs. Does this Spark an idea?
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Power Coming In
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Power comes in to the main panel and is distributed to the breakers. Breakers are like fuses that can be switched off and on.
Wire Gauges
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When wiring outlets, usually 12 AWG (American wire gauge) wire or 14 AWG wire is used. The 12 AWG is for 20 amp outlets and 14 AWG is used for 15 amp outlets.
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Wiring Systems
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Wires are either run in a metal conduit, or by cable. Both keep the wires protected and insulated.
Breakers to Outlets
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From the breakers, the wires are run to the outlet. The closest outlet usually is connected to the main panel first.
Methods
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There are two types of wiring: series and parallel. Series is when one wire comes in and one wire goes out. In a parallel circuit, you will have two wires in and two wires out. Outlets typically are wired in parallel method so that the voltage remains the same to each outlet.
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