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Use Four Key Tools
Here are four must-have tools if you plan to wire many switches and outlets:
- Voltage tester. You can pick one up for a few bucks and use it to test for hot wires or to find a neutral. Just touch the probes between a hot and a neutral, or between two hot wires. The tester will light up if the wires are “hot.” The tester shown also tests for 240 volts.
- Combination sheath and wire stripper. In addition to slots for stripping insulation from 14- and 12-gauge wire, it has slots to strip the sheathing from 14- and 12-gauge nonmetallic cable.
- Voltage “sniffer.” The beauty of this tool is that you don’t have to touch bare wires to see if they’re hot. Just hold it near any wire or cable to see if it’s energized. Use a noncontact voltage tester like this to double-check that all wires in a box are “dead” after turning off the circuit breaker.
- GFCI receptacle tester. Just plug it into any GFCI outlet and the lights will indicate whether the outlet is properly wired. Plug it into a GFCI receptacle and press the test button to see if the GFCI is working correctly.
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Use Pigtails on Outlets
Outlets have pairs of screws on each side that you can use to connect downstream outlets, but it’s best not to use them. There are two reasons for this. First, connecting the wires leading to downstream outlets with wire connectors creates a more secure connection. And second, it’s easier to press the outlet back into the box if fewer of its screws are connected to wires. Instead, use wire connectors to connect the neutral, hot and ground wires along with 6-in.-long “pigtails.” Then connect the pigtails to the outlet.
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Smart Switches May Need a Neutral Wire
Switch makers have built all kinds of cool features into modern “smart switches.” You can buy switches with occupancy sensors, timers and programmable dimmers. But the catch is that, unlike an ordinary switch, some of these new switches require a neutral to operate correctly. This is a problem if your old switch is wired as a “switch loop,” such that only a hot and a switched hot are available in the box.
Before you shop for a new switch, remove your old one from the box—after making sure the power is off, of course—and look for a neutral white wire. Any wires connected to the existing switch are not neutral wires. If a white wire is connected to the switch, it should be marked as a hot wire with either a piece of black tape or black marker as shown. If there’s no neutral in the box, shop for a smart switch that doesn’t require a neutral. The Kasa smart switch is an excellent option—we’ve tried it!
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