Found 48 results for the keyword(s) ‘Wiring’

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  Why do my lights flicker when appliances turn on.

  Theoretically, room lights should never be on the same circuits as any large appliances.Why? Because if the appliance, be it a refrigerator, a large TV or a hot electric fry pan, blows a fuse, you don't want to be thrown in the dark.When these are on the same circuits, on the same fuse or circui...
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  Block Heaters: knowing if they are on and making them energy efficient.

  We all invent things in our heads: "I which I had a gadget that would?." Then every once in a while we discover that someone has invented it.I live in Montreal. Winter is cold in Montreal and we are familiar with outdoor electrical outlets all over to keep our cars running. I always wanted an...
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  Voltage surges blowing up appliances.

  Nancy from Welland, Ontario has had a terrible saga with her electrical appliances literally blowing up. We have been writing to each other for some while now trying to find the elusive problem. Read it through, you may learn about how to hunt down problems, and learn a bit about electrical sys...
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  How do I separate the outlet from the light switch in the bathroom?

  David wants the electrical outlet in the bathroom to be on all the time and not just when the light switch is on. How do you wire that, he asks?You may or may not be able to do it with the existing wires.Start by opening up the light electrical box. Turn off the light switch. Measure the volta...
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  Why can't I find electrical cheater plugs any more?

  One viewer caught our camera in a renovation store and asked why he saw electrical cheater plugs in Quebec but can't find them in Ontario?First, what is a "cheater plug"? That is the little gadget that was so common when we first changed from two prong outlets to three prong outlets. The idea wa...
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  Can I change one of the double outdoor lights into a plug in socket?

  One viewer asked if they could convert one of the two lamps in a double outdoor light into a socket?If all you want to do is to run Christmas lights that do not have a ground plug, you can simply screw in a two prong outlet into the light socket. If your total wattage does not exceed the wattage...
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  Getting a good electrical connection with wires.

  Have you ever wondered whether you should push an electrical wire through the little connector holes in the back of an electrical outlet, or tighten that wire under the screw head? Keith Dusome is an electrician from Accurate Electrical in Aurora, Ontario who got me to take a couple of outlets a...
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  Is the wiring already in your house safe?

  Plastic covered wires that run along the top of your baseboards are dangerous, because they can easily be damaged. It is so easy to just add a wire like this that it is often done, with extension cords, or even regular wiring simply being nailed to the baseboards to keep them off the floor.If th...
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  How do you measure power coming into your house?

  You can get an idea of the total power possible to bring into the house by looking at the main fuses or breakers -- not the set of ordinary ones that you replace or reset often. The main breakers are in the top of, or above, or between the regular electrical box and the electrical meter. There ...
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  Can you get a data module to centralise all the data in a house?

  When most people think about having the computer, the TV, the audio and such being run out of a central hub, they usually only think about distribution. Those units do exist. But you can go a step further and get a central hub that filters and conditions the electricity and the signals to separ...