If you've got a lot of electronic gear, you may want to consider adding more power outlets to your home. Here's a step-by-step primer on wire two power receptacles.
Instructions
1. Determine where your receptacles will be, then determine the closest spot from where you can tap into the existing power supply of your house. This may be another outlet, or a new breaker in your circuit-breaker box. Be sure you're not going to overload the existing wiring when you add the receptacles. Measure the distance from the power source and the distance between the locations you've chosen for the two receptacles. This will let you know how much wire you will need.
2. Cut openings in the wall for receptacles. The openings should be big enough to accept the gang boxes that will hold the receptacles, but no bigger. Once the openings have been cut, fish the wire from the location of the first receptacle back to the power source, but do not yet connect it. If it is necessary to go through studs in the wall, you may have make several openings so you can drill holes through the studs for wiring. Sometimes, however, you can work the wiring up or down the wall and run it across the top of the existing framing. This takes more wiring, but may be easier to do.
3. Fish the end of the wire through the opening in the gang box and mount the box into the wall. Now, run wiring from the first receptacle's location to the second receptacle's position, following the principles in Step 2. Once the wiring has been run to location number two, pull it through the gang box and secure the gang box into the wall location.
4. Wire the receptacles to the wiring in the gang boxes, following the instructions that came with the new receptacles. Mount the receptacles into the gang boxes. Now, shut down the power to your power source and connect the wiring to the power source. Turn the power back on and test your receptacles.
Tags: power source, gang boxes, first receptacle, into wall, power source connect
