After tripping the breaker from the Christmas lights, I found out that all of the basement outlets and the outside front, side, & rear outlets are all on the same 15A circuit. Short term solution is to run an extension to the other side of the house (different circuit) and hook a relay from the timer to it so I can still run all the lights off the same timer.
Two questions for long term solution:
When houses are wired, do they usually use smaller wiring for the 15A breakers than the 20A ones? Just wondering if I can replace any of the 15A with 20A - I’m guessing no.
How hard is to put in another circuit to split the outside & basement outlets to their own breakers? Do I just have to trace the lines and hook them up to the new breaker?
IIRC you would need to call the electric company and have them cut main power to the box, then you can run your wire into the box and connect a breaker. But like quik said don’t do it yourself unless you know what you’re doing.
My dad does it if needed but even he doesn’t like to mess with it.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be doing this myself, just want to know the options. There’s a lot that’s going to need changed when I finish the basement. None of the switches are layed out how they’ll need to be.
But can’t you turn off the main 200A breaker to do work on the panel?
Yes what they say is true. You won’t need to “cut” any power to the house or the box though.
Fishing wires thru walls can be tricky, if your basement ceiling is open and the plugs are only going on the first floor then it won’t be too difficult.
I’ve been a registered electrician for over 20 years if you need any pointers just ask
i am in the exact same perdicament. i just wired in 4 recessed lights in my bedroom. (thank gawd for actic access) and i found out while tripping breakers to shut the one off going to the switch that both upstairs bedrooms,living room,and basement are all on the same breaker. so i am going to put the basement one on its own breaker just to break it up some.
doing the basement on its own will not be difficult at all. just need to find out where the wire coming from the switch for the lights is and run that into a new breaker. (its obviously more complex then this but dont do it with out being sure of what to do… dont want to have to make a call to the insurance company )
When selling old homes a lot of times you’ll see new wiring in the basement to make you think the whole house was rewired but that is Never usually the case.
They may toss a new box in the basement and new service outside and rewire the basement and call it “A Rewired House” when it indeed is not.
you dont even have to kil main power. each circuit has its own breaker. thus when shutting off te breaker it kills the specific circuit your working on
i wil ltell you this this isnt a cheap job. if you plan on fishing and adding shit think of this, that means cutting holes in walsl which now is patch work which is also paint work. like stated basments are easy to do for most part, this is why you may want to stay away from a older home with wiring. most old homes are only setup for a 100amp service for most part and circuits. the previous owner might of stepped up the panel size but circuits are still the same. to rewire a home it takes thousands of dollars cause you have labor fees of the electrican. a typical fresh skeleton home you can get an electrican around 25 an hour or so. now to fish work you might have 35 an hour cause of hte headches ppl run into. can you do it cheaper, somewhat if you do it yourself but if you arent an electrican i wouldnt bother with it. there are codes and regulations you have to follow if not it wont ever pass inspection, and when you go to the extents of some ppl you need to get it insepcted in order to be coverd by insurance
get some books on codes. it is not hard but helps if you can ask an electrician question. i did a lot on my house andb garage but i just don’t like doing electrical work though. adding circuits is simple but there are basics that you will need to look at though
Everything upstairs is staying how it is. Basement is all block wall and open rafters right now, so access is easy. And I hear ya about running stuff upstairs. Ran Cat5 up from the basement to den on 1st floor & daughter’s room on 2nd floor. Insulated walls suck.
Plenty of empty slots & 200A service. I think I’ll at least trace the wires and mark them so I know what outlets are outside & inside, and also which ones are the basement lighting.
Figure out what layout I want (separate switches for shop/garage area, exercise room, furnace/water heater space, main area). Draw up a wiring diagram to run the lines and maybe someone can look it over for me. Then have someone certified connect it up once the lines ar layed out.
You da man. Probably going to start laying out the basement this winter sometime - figure out walls, lighting, plumbing, what new tools I have an excuse to buy, permits, how I’m going to pay for this…
Jeff, let me know when you have your material list put together. I have worked in the Electrical industry for around 30 years now, and i might be able to raid the “sample room”, plus my customers are Electrical wholesalers, and they take care of me when it come to price. Just shoot me a PM when the time comes.
LOL, yep, lots of goodies in the sample room…:naughty: Most factories are pretty generous with samples, so our sample shelves are pretty well stocked. I think there are about 10-15 GFCI’s sitting there, along with a lot of other wiring devices…
Oh, and BTW Quik, if you need stuff to use in your classes (like catalogs, cuts, or specific kinds of samples), LMK, i might be able to fix you up with some.
)
Then have someone certified connect it up once the lines ar layed out.