Handling the wiring in your house yourself can save you a lot of money. However, you need to make sure that you’ve done your homework and that you know exactly what to do. If you make any big mistakes, you could risk starting a fire or ruining your wiring. That’s why you need to be especially careful when tackling the wiring in your home. To help you, we’ve compiled some electrical home wiring mistakes beginners often make.
Not Covering Splices
Sometimes you need to splice wires to connect areas of your home. A common beginner mistake is to leave these splices unprotected. That can spell disaster for your home, as uncovered splices are significant fire hazards. If you don’t cover your splice, the electricity will flow freely. As a result, it can catch anything it touches on fire.
To avoid this, make sure you completely cover all the splices you create. Perform all splices in a UL-listed box with a cover to secure it.
Installing Too Many Outlets on a Wire
Don’t install too many outlets to a single circuit. The problem isn’t the outlets, but the appliances you’ll plug into them. If too many appliances are plugged into the same circuit, you risk overloading it. That can cause:
- Utility blowouts
- Malfunctioning appliances
- Dropped voltage
- Fire
- Permanent breaker damage
Do yourself a favor and spread out your outlets to multiple circuits. Also, try not to plug too many appliances into one outlet, even if you have an outlet strip.
Using Extension Cords as Permanent Solutions
An extension cord is a temporary wiring solution, not a permanent one. You don’t want to leave your garage door or air conditioner plugged into an extension cord. Large installations such as these require proper wiring. If you try using an extension cord for the long term, you can short wires and even cause an electrical fire. As a rule of thumb, never use an extension cord for anything other than a temporary wiring solution.
Leaving Cables Unprotected
You may think securing your wires to the wall is enough, but it’s not. If someone can freely interact with your wires, the wires need to be covered. Make sure you carefully secure, conceal, and cover any wires in your home. Pay close attention when securing these wires so that you don’t nick the insulation. Doing so can pose a fire hazard.
Those are the most common electrical home wiring mistakes beginners make. Make sure to follow proper wiring safety tips so that you can avoid these beginner pitfalls.
