How to Wire an Outlet and Add an Electrical Outlet

Utilize this piece of cake method to install a new electrical outlet without a lot of wire pulling.

Fourth dimension

A full day

Complexity

Intermediate

Cost

Less than $twenty

Introduction

Eliminate those ugly and often unsafe extension cords. You can add a new outlet apace and easily without tearing open a wall, if you already accept an electric outlet in the other side of the wall. No extra holes. No messy patching and repainting. The process we show hither allowed us to center our Tv set confronting a wall in the family unit room that had no outlet. Since there was already an electrical outlet in the other side of that same wall (facing into an adjacent sleeping accommodation), nosotros just added a new outlet in the family room, cartoon power from the sleeping room outlet.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Electrical cable
  • Receptacle (outlet)
  • Remodeling box
  • Wire connectors

Y'all'll Need to Notice a Power Source

This technique merely works if you can use an electrical outlet as a power source that's reverse, or nearly opposite, the place where you desire your new wall outlet. To determine how to wire an outlet and whether you can safely use existing electric outlets, follow the list below.

You Can Apply Another Electrical Outlet When:

  1. If a switch or outlet is on a circuit that often blows its breaker or fuse. (Don't make matters worse by calculation yet some other outlet to the circuit.)
  2. Electric codes restrict the number of lights or electrical outlets that tin can be continued to one circuit. Typically, yous can have no more than 8 lights or electrical outlets on a xv-amp circuit. To decide the amp rating of a circuit, simply await at the number on its breaker or fuse in your main electrical panel. Turn off the circuit and test light switches and other outlets to make up one's mind exactly which lights or outlets are on a given circuit.
  3. Most electric codes now require outlets in kitchens and bathrooms to exist on separate 20-amp GFCI circuits. So before using the method we testify here for how to wire a wall outlet in a kitchen or bathroom, check with an electrical inspector. If you add an outlet to a kitchen or bath, information technology must be GFCI protected. Don't power your new outlet from a kitchen or bathroom outlet.
  4. Codes also limit the number of wires that tin can enter an electric box or electrical receptacle, depending on the inside book of the box and the guess of the wires. The outlet-improver methods we show hither are based on the most common wiring (14-gauge wire on a 15-amp circuit) and an xviii-cu.-in. box (typical inside dimensions are about 2-in. x 3-1/4 in. x 3-in. deep). If the circuit is 20-amp — which means thicker, 12-gauge wire — or if the existing box is smaller than 18 cu. in., yous can't wire a new wall outlet as we show here unless you replace the existing box with a larger 1. Plastic box sizes are stamped on the inside at the back.

Always confirm the required box size with your local edifice inspector. In most regions, you lot demand an electrical permit for this piece of work from your local building department. This helps ensure a safe chore. These are the 8 nigh common national electric code violations.

Scout this video to learn how to install an electric box in any room in your habitation:

ⓘ

Work Safely

Before yous tackle any part of this project, turn off the power to the excursion at the main electric panel past switching off the breaker or removing the fuse.

Before touching any bare wires or terminals on a switch or outlet, use a voltage tester on all the wires to make certain the power is off. If y'all take old, fabric-insulated wiring, call an electrician to recommend safe connections. With wiring an outlet like this, there's commonly no ground wire and it'south hard to tell the hot wire from the neutral, considering both are coated with blackness insulation.

Project stride-past-step (5)

Step 1

Close Off the Electric Outlet

  • Turn off the ability at the main panel.  Find the correct billow and turn it off.
  • Once you've determined the electrical outlet to use as a power source and shut information technology off, use an electronic stud finder to locate the studs on both sides.
  • You lot can put your new outlet anywhere between these ii studs.
  • Unscrew the outlet and use a voltage tester to double-check that the power is off.
  • With either lead touching a basis wire (bare copper), touch the other lead first to the neutral terminals (silver colored), and so to the hot terminals (golden colored).
  • If the light glows with either contact, the circuit is still live.
  • Hold the face up of the new electrical box against the wall where you want it to get, and trace effectually information technology with a pencil.
  • Cut out the pigsty with a drywall saw.
    • Pro tip: Be sure to buy a "remodeling" box that tin can be secured to the drywall, not 1 that must be mounted on a stud.
  • Next, using a screwdriver, unscrew the existing outlet on the other side of the wall outlet from its box and punch out ane of the knock-outs at the dorsum of the box.

Here's how to use electrical testers.

Aluminum wiring requires special handling. If you lot have aluminum wiring, phone call in a licensed pro who's certified to piece of work with it. This wiring is tiresome gray, non the tiresome orange that'southward feature of copper.

Shut off the electrical outlet

Footstep 2

Feed New Cable into the Wall

  • Feed a length of new cable through one of the knock-out holes at the dorsum of the existing box (punch out the hole with a screwdriver).
  • Feed through plenty cable to reach the new box plus an actress pes.
  • Use 14-gauge wire for a xv-amp circuit.

Feed new cable into the wall

Step 3

Rewire the Existing Electric Outlet

  • Connect the wires of the new cable to the existing wires.
  • Strip about 10 inches of plastic capsule from the new cable to expose the blackness, white and copper wires.
  • Run the new cable, with sheathing, at least two inches upward inside the box, and double over the excess wires to help agree the cablevision in place.
  • Strip 5/8-in. of insulation off the ends and connect the wires from the new cable to the existing bundles — white to white, black to black, basis to footing.
  • Use new wire connectors of adequate size for the four wires in each bundle.

Rewire the existing electrical outlet

Step 4

Fish the Cable to the New Location

  • Marker the opening for the new box and cutting it out with a drywall saw.
  • Fish for the new cablevision with a claw fabricated from a wire coat hanger.
  • Pull the cable through the opening cut in the wall.
  • Then strip about ix inches of capsule off the finish of the cable. Insert the cable so the sheath extends near one inch into the box and mountain the box in the wall.

Fish the cable to the new location

Step v

Wire the New Electrical Outlet

  • Mount the new box in the opening.
  • Connect the new wires to the new outlet: white (neutral) wire to a silvery-colored final spiral; black (hot) wire to a gold-colored terminal screw; blank wire to the dark-green grounding screw.
  • Make sure the cablevision sheath remains secured inside the box
  • Finally, call the electrical inspector to bank check your work.

Wire the new electrical outlet

Originally Published: June 17, 2020