Wiring my own house

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nickelec

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Over the years I've probably wired up 50 or so homes for customers and gave plenty if ideas and inputs as to what they should consider,put in etc. Now it's time to do my own and my mind is racing, what type of high hats square or round baffle or not what kind of dimmers and where lol. Does any have a similar experience. Any tips or ideas things to consider?


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Round recessed, not square. Toggler dimmers. Split-wired receptacles in bedrooms, living room, den, etc. Separate lighting and receptacle circuits everywhere. Plenty of exterior area lighting.
 
You might consider the porcelain keyless lights all over in the attic and crawl space, especially if you're planning on doing any work in either, or selling the house in the near future. They are such unseen features to almost be selling points. Of course this is assuming that you want these areas well-lit, and aren't trying to hide construction debris, Critters, mold, water damage, roof leaks, Etc. LOL.

Plenty of outside receptacles doesn't hurt either, especially if you use corded power tools for any kind of hedge trimming. Not having to roll out three or four hundred feet of extension cord is quite nice. And if you have a detached shed that doesn't have power, now is a good time to fix that
 
Go crazy with the circuits just for the fun of it- and the ability to show off two space heaters and then some in a room :D Its nice to vacuum while the girl friend irons and no lights dimming.
 
I'll be wiring my house soon too. Perhaps the biggest thing for me is finding lights that don't make any noise, dim properly, and don't flicker.

It's kinda funny, I've been designing and giving people advice on lighting for years, and I've just got 4 keyless sockets and some string lights for light at my house. :lol:
 
nickelec said:
Over the years I've probably wired up 50 or so homes for customers and gave plenty if ideas and inputs as to what they should consider,put in etc. Now it's time to do my own and my mind is racing, what type of high hats square or round baffle or not what kind of dimmers and where lol. Does any have a similar experience. Any tips or ideas things to consider?


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Pulling a permit??:lol:

Forget TR outlets if possible. DItto for afci,
Outlets high enough you don't have to bend way over to plug something in, 4 foot centers max, lots of outlets, all spec grade of course.
Would do all LED lights nowdays.
As already said, lights and outlets separate circuits.
At least 4 subpanels.......? 50 + circuits not too many if you have a shop.
We put all low voltage lighting in own house (RR3 relays, etc.) with multiple 'control all' panels.
Driveway strip lighting.
We love having a led rope lights around garage doors, really nice for pulling in in the dark. Wired to garage door openers.
UG feeders to all 4 corners of the property (unless you have have hundred acres <G>
If you have a home office, separate service to that and your shop for tax purposes. (might not pay with new tax rules?)
etc
 
nickelec said:
Over the years I've probably wired up 50 or so homes for customers and gave plenty if ideas and inputs as to what they should consider,put in etc. Now it's time to do my own and my mind is racing, what type of high hats square or round baffle or not what kind of dimmers and where lol. Does any have a similar experience. Any tips or ideas things to consider?


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If you’re anything like me you’ll still be working on it in 20 years time :lol:
 
electrofelon said:
It's kinda funny, I've been designing and giving people advice on lighting for years, and I've just got 4 keyless sockets and some string lights for light at my house. :lol:
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"Shoemakers' children wear no shoes." Ever see a mechanic's car?
 
JFletcher said:
You might consider the porcelain keyless lights all over in the attic and crawl space,
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Yes, yes, yes. Ever time I go up in an attic I wonder why I can't flip a switch and light up the entire thing.

Also: Every receptacle in the kitchen on a dedicated circuit. You'll never have to worry about tripping a circuit when using two or more heating appliances simultaneously. Every morning I make my coffee AND THEN make my wife's tea because I can't have the coffeemaker and electric kettle on at the same time. It's also not unusual to have the microwave, toaster oven, and crockpot going all at once.
 
JFletcher said:
...Plenty of outside receptacles doesn't hurt either, especially if you use corded power tools for any kind of hedge trimming. Not having to roll out three or four hundred feet of extension cord is quite nice. And if you have a detached shed that doesn't have power, now is a good time to fix that
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If you put up Christmas lights, think of a controlled circuit for that, with receptacles in all the right places (soffits, etc.)
 
Coppersmith said:
Yes, yes, yes. Ever time I go up in an attic I wonder why I can't flip a switch and light up the entire thing.

Also: Every receptacle in the kitchen on a dedicated circuit. You'll never have to worry about tripping a circuit when using two or more heating appliances simultaneously. Every morning I make my coffee AND THEN make my wife's tea because I can't have the coffeemaker and electric kettle on at the same time. It's also not unusual to have the microwave, toaster oven, and crockpot going all at once.
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Ages ago my FIL gave me a bunch of 8' FL fixtures to put in the attic. Which I did. Wiring them is another story. I keep thinking I'm going to add a story to the house, then not, where do I want the switch... Paralysis by analysis.
 
Security power and cat 5,6,7,...
I have a 900sqft house subpan to other side of basement, one out to my shop, one out to garage.
Christmas lights on a switch/timer.
Bathroom load it up, 1500w hair dryer, 1200w curler box, 1kw curler rod, wax melter, phone charger, circlesaw, welder, you know girl stuff.
3w 4way all over.
Entertainment room
Laundry same thing.
Garage needs good light and power.
You will not make back your money on sale because people don't look at electrical in that way.
Spare pipes.
Bathroom put blocking in for the bars you WILL need when you get old.
 
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While running power in an attic w/ no lights, for an air conditioner install, I put the first keyless on the attached garage lights. So when I climb the ladder, it is already lit. CFL doesn't cost much for the small amount of time the garage lights are on. No fumbling for a switch.
 
Barbqranch said:
While running power in an attic w/ no lights, for an air conditioner install, I put the first keyless on the attached garage lights. So when I climb the ladder, it is already lit. CFL doesn't cost much for the small amount of time the garage lights are on. No fumbling for a switch.
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Yes, but it's the inrush current that kills most electrical items. Flipping it on and off more than you need to will shorten it's life. Even though CFL's don't cost much to replace, you wouldn't want to have to do it at the moment you need it.
 
grich said:
If you put up Christmas lights, think of a controlled circuit for that, with receptacles in all the right places (soffits, etc.)
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Yes! This is one I like to do as well. I route the circuit to an in-wall astronomical timer switch.

And silllites.com if you like to put candles in the windows, also to the timer switch.


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I like bare minimum and simplicity. I hate the look of cluttered rooms (electrically speaking) with lots of outlets and switches, especially on the counter top.
 
Depending on the construction, of course, for LV "future-proofing" I suggest LV outlets in each room with 1/2" or 3/4" PVC stubs up to attic or down to crawl space, and a 2" PFC conduit from attic to crawl space, unless it can terminate where the incoming LV services terminate.

A second 2" PVC conduit can be run for home runs for any future circuits you end up wanting or needing. I have even imagined building in a secret climbing passage from top to bottom, maybe 2' by 2' or 2' by 3', in case you ever need to make an emergency exit from the house.
 
Fully lit attics and crawl spaces are not even seen in million dollar homes... Crawl spaces and attics aren't sexy, but having them fully lit is very nice having to do any work in them, and actually was a pretty good selling point with the last house that I did for my aunt. I just ran a 14 / 3 home run to the Attic, then a 14-2 to those lights, than a 14-2 down into the crawl space and put 6 keyless lights down there. also ran utility receptacles to both, and a receptacle for the heat trace for the piping.

As for low-voltage, I wholeheartedly agree with Larry, however nowadays the best thing you can do is have a centralized router in your house, then you don't have to use one that can throw a signal through 12 feet of lead brick to get reception at the far end of your house. Conduit stubs and chases are an excellent idea, and no matter how many circuits you run to wear, take any leftover 12/3 and 14 / 3 and run an extra spare multiwire branch circuit of each to the attic and crawl space. that gives you up to eight extra easily accessible circuits should you want to add on later.

I'm not for real fancy electrical gizmos, however I do like the looks of the Hidden screw cover plates.

Oh yeah, make the panel a piece of artwork. Clean labels and clean wiring. I would probably also spring for a Square D qo panel, with the visible trip windows on the breakers. of course if you wire it the way that is suggested on this thread, tripping a breaker may not ever happen
 
One last thing then I promise I'll quit... LOL... I would use 4-port or larger Wego lever lock connectors everywhere, and pigtail to all receptacles. If you ever want to add something to one of those boxes, all you have to do is bring in your new wire, strip it, and stab it in. Adjustable depth boxes where the wall detail is subject to change in the future, like adding a kitchen backsplash, will be a breeze to do, just zip it out to the new wall depth.

If I had my way, I would wire every new house with almost all of the features I've mentioned on this thread. And if this is a new house, being built from the ground up as opposed to a rewire, I would seriously look into installing sprinklers, they are a heck of a lot better for fires than afci Breakers could ever hope to be, and may very well pay for themselves with possibly reduced homeowners insurance.
 
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