How to Wire Double Pole Circuit Breakers

Adding a new circuit breaker to the service panel is perhaps the easiest part of wiring a new circuit in a house. Heavy-duty appliances like dryers and ovens each require their own 220/240-volt circuit, and while the wiring is done in the same fashion as any other household circuit, connecting a two-pole breaker for a heavy-duty circuit is a little different.

Things You'll Need

• Circuit breaker
• Screwdriver
• Flashlight

Instructions

1. Make sure your box can accept another 220/240-volt circuit before beginning any work. The box must have two adjacent unused circuit-breaker spaces. If no adjacent spaces are available, you can have an electrician wire a subpanel.

2. Turn off the electrical current to the service panel. This will halt the flow of electricity to the entire house, so keep a flashlight nearby.

3. Remove the covers from the empty spaces in the service panel by prying them out with a screwdriver.

4. Make the electrical connections. Connect the hot wires -- one black and one red -- from the circuit to the two-pole breaker. The neutral wire from the 220/240-volt circuit is not connected to the circuit breaker, but is instead connected to the neutral bus bar.

5. Snap the breaker into place so it clips onto the two bus bars of the service panel.

6. Turn on the power to the circuit breaker box.

Tips & Warnings

• Older homes were wired for 220-volt circuits while newer homes have 240-volt circuits. The terms (and circuit breakers) are interchangeable and do not affect how the wiring is done.

References

• "The Big Book of Home How-To;" Better Homes and Gardens; 2003