How-To check house wiring – Randy Bennett
Yes, but only in very limited amounts. Education is key: Electricity is dangerous, but when people find they need more of it, caution tends to go out the window. Here are some basic steps you can do to make your system safer and more reliable:
1. Eliminate extensions.
Try not to use extension cords at all if you can avoid it. If you can’t, stick to 6-9 ft, 14-12gauge cords. Preferably heavy-duty surge protectors with 6 ft cords attached. Those little lamp cords with 3 non-grounded plugs in a rectangle are only good for, well, lamps.
2. Stay Grounded.
The ground wire and plug are for your protection!! The ground provides the electricity a short, safe path back to ground in order to trip the fuse or breaker quickly. Without a ground, if your equipment shorts to its metal parts, you can become that path to ground.
If the receptacles in your wall don’t have a ground hole, then you likely don’t have a ground wire in the wall. You cannot simply replace a non-grounded plug with a grounded one so that three-prong plugs will fit. You can, however, replace it with a GFCI receptacle. This will sense ground faults and kill power to the receptacle in milliseconds, saving you and maybe your equipment. Best of all, it’s perfectly legal and you can plug all of your grounded cords into it.
3. Map your circuits.
Although there are expensive tools designed just for this, you can do it yourself with a lamp and about 20-40 minutes of your time.
Shut down all of the appliances/electronics in your house and preferably move furniture for easy access to all of the plugs. With a Sharpie, number all of the circuit-breakers or fuses in your electrical panel (if you already have a panel schedule there, you’re ahead of the game!). Electricians number odds {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc down the left side and evens down the right).
Turn on one circuit breaker at a time and walk though the house the a lamp. Write down each number and the locations it powers and the amperage of the circuit, or draw a map marked with the numbers. Turn off each breaker when you are done with it to ensure you do not get confused.
Circuits can often span the entire length of a house, hitting only 1 or 2 plugs in a room. There is no standard, so everyone’s house will be “roped” a little different. When you have finished, turn all the breakers back on and clean up your panel schedule/diagram. When you are happy with it, laminate it or cover it with a couple strips of packing tape 
and place it somewhere in, on or near your electrical panel.
Various types of circuit breakers you might encounter
4. Spread out your power draw.
Since the wires in extension cords and power strip supply cords are generally smaller than the wires in your wall, stringing them together adds more draw to an already limited setup. If there are two plugs on a desk wall plug, plug a power strip into each one rather than one into the other. Since you now know which receptacles are on which breakers, try to split your loads evenly among different circuits. Your monitor and printer don’t have to be plugged into the same receptacle as your PSU.
5. Use a multimeter.
If you think you have a power problem, try using a multimeter at the receptacles to find out what you have available. Voltages should be between 118 – 121 VAC (Volts – Alternating Current). Test your voltage with all “normal” appliances & equipment turned on and then off, and compare the difference. Do not attempt to measure amps with a multimeter. The amp reading on them is made for testing small electronics and will likely fry your meter if used on a household plug.
6. Add capacity.
This is a last resort and should not be taken lightly. However, if it is needed then have it done! Straining your electrical system is just a house fire in the making! Please seek a qualified/certified electrician for this task. Be prepared. A good electrician can easily charge from $50 – 120/hr or more. It is not the kind of work you want done by a handyman though.
If your panel has the space and the capacity for more circuits, then one or two dedicated 20 amp circuits routed directly to your office area is the best bet. You may find that your home does not have the capacity or is in dire need of a larger electrical service panel. Your home may be perfectly capable of the loads it was designed for in 1964, but don’t be surprised if you end up finding that what you really need is a $1000 – 2000 service upgrade.
Never, ever, install a larger fuse or circuit breaker than what the circuit is rated for. Overcurrent protection devices are there for safety and do not increase the load carrying capacity of the wires, connections, or receptacles.
7. Be careful!
This should go without saying, but I’ll say it nonetheless:
Not to mention it really screws up your tools! I will not be held responsible for damages, death, or personal injuries caused by curiousness or neglect.
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Tags: Systems & Components
