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Exactly. For clarity, "back wiring" is different from "back stabbing". Back stabbing is a horrible idea, but somehow it caught on in the residential market. I'm most familiar with it in track homes where the lowest bidder is in charge. It's fast and easy to strip a wire, shove it in and be...

if you have a dedicate computer for it, look at http://www.openhab.org/ combine this with a zone-minder security system, and you might be all set. OpenHAB should work with any vendor so you can add / subtract things at will.

+1 on having both I have both pliers, The NM stripper tool will be a little more difficult to work with over the Milwaukee for general purpose stripping / looping. The NM tool is GREAT if you are stripping NM and then stripping each leg. Depends on the job. If you're loping off old outlets...

comcast in my area has been good about that. That is actually part of the benefit when providers offer "land line" phone service. In a power outage, the internet / cable based phone service still works. as a side benefit, tv / internet still work too. Most voice enabled modems offered have a...

I just have multiple UPS's. One dedicated one on the router / switch and another on each PC. Main purpose is to have a graceful shutdown on power loss events over 1 minute. The router / modem will stay online as long as possible as they don't have HDDs that corrupt the way encrypted desktops...

There are various ways to do what you are asking. But, if it's not a dedicated system or "listed" to do the task you're asking; it's not "legal". Legal and safe can be two different things though. I was thinking of how to relocate my various UPS units to the garage rather than having one at...

Code is always taking the fun out of projects! :(

I have 4 total connections on my current roof, one of which crosses the entire garage. Once the new roof goes on, I'm really pushing the contractor to NOT reconnect the phone lines. Power and coax cable only please.

You should see some cable drops in my neighborhood.... the Cable TV line is practically wrapped around the mast AND electrics. Then again, these are the same houses where the electric lines are resting on the roof shingles because the mast is maybe 6" above the roof line and the weather head...

check your local RV / boat supply. Most fixtures in RVs are wide input 12V DC for just that purpose.

What size wire are you taping the white ends? Some AHJs apparently don't like wire smaller than X-awg to be re-labeled as phase... I thought it was around the #6 mark? Or am I wrong on this? If this is all new wiring, why not run black / red combos (e.g. 12/3 rather than 12/2) for 240V...

this was my backout plan if the poco didn't want to give me 200. I would have left all of the 200a rated gear, but replace the main disco and the sub panel main breaker with 100a gear.

I find it hilarious that my 200A upgrade resulted in no new anything from the PoCo. The Original drop from the 60's that supplied a 60A service is now feeding my 2/0 copper and a 200A disconnect. If I follow the overhead back to the pole, the drop looks like it's connected via a small #10 or...

I wouldn't use the overhead conductor size as any kind of identifier. PoCos rate their wire very differently because free-air. Also, I wouldn't trust existing meter cans. The one I replaced was a round can, but the Previous Owner had a 100A breaker behind it fed by ~6awg. I mentioned the...

When I was house shopping recently, it was a matter of opening the main panel (during an open house) and looking at the main disconnect. However, as I started reading code and local utility books, it became obvious. If you have overhead service, check out the service riser above the meter...

locking lever nuts may be the next big thing, but I still prefer my twisters and the drill socket. Start the nut by hand, finish with the drill. Perfect twist every time. Good sturdy mechanical connection.

:beer: to buy a complete T8 fixture + bulbs, the cost per lumen is way cheaper than LED. Plus, T8 led retrofits (direct 120V or not) will be cheap enough one day when the T8 bulb burns out.

yeah... go ahead and use stab lock connectors....

Siemens panel? You could mount it lug side down and avoid having the SER cable using your precious gutter space. Depending on how many K/Os you use, the SER cable may get in the way. Just an idea... Otherwise, glad to hear the cable pull went smoothly. How many pounds was the pull cord...

:Twitch: Just wait until you find random splices in conduit, or under-sized wire.