60 Outlets

[dkroth]

As of yesterday evening I've added 60 electrical receptacles to my house since it was new 18 years ago. These were all added out of necessity and convenience.

Other stats:

- 19 switches
- 1, 100 amp sub panel in the garage
- 18 branch circuits
- 2, 240 v outlets (that are part of the above 60)
- 2 hard-wired electric heaters

All this was added using most of a 250' roll of 14/2 and a 100' roll of 12/2. Larger gauge wire was bought as necessary.

Wife and I bought the house new 18 years ago. The garage came with one outlet and two light bulbs. The basement had one outlet and four light bulbs.

The garage and basement account for the lion's share of these additions, but the house accounts for 21 of the outlets and switches.

Examples of the stuff I've added: 20 amp circuits for power in the garage/basement; lighting circuits in the garage/basement; 240 v circuits for equipment and heaters; pool circuits; dedicated circuits for microwave, treadmill, and refrigerator; quad and 6 gang expansions in high usage areas; exterior lighting.

Whew.

 

[87jeepwrangler]

That's cute. I've probably added almost 60 to my garage alone.

 

[Jarnipman]

Sounds exhausting, but very functional! Great work! When I did my shop I put in about 30 120V receptacles, 5 50A 240V, 16 lights, fans, A/C, new panel, new subpanel, on and on and on, I ran about 4000 feet of high and low voltage cable in there and when the AHJ showed up to inspect it, he chuckled and said I had an outlet fetish - I told him I did not know where I wanted to place my tools so for the $2 or so it costs to add a box and outlet, I went bananas with it, why not right?...now I am happy and I am very happy I used all the spare cable to run future circuits into the attic above the insulation just in case I want to add something. Also added a fancy RV outlet outside, which is great! I bought a new house recently and the electrician who wired it was just amazing, he backstabbed every single device in the house and now we are loosing circuits and getting arcing randomly (fire hazard!!!!!!), so I have been going around the house one room at a time, moving all the wires under the screw terminals. On many outlets (they are Levitrons), I pull the outlet away from the box and the wires just slip right out, may as well not even be in the device. I must have fixed thousands of backstabbed problems over the years...grounding all the switches too is another chore. And tapping out boxes where someone stripped the boxes with an impact driver. Recently, moved my air conditioner, that was fun had to smash 3 rooms open to move the A/C circuit to a more desirable location, but well worth it because I did not want to see any conduit outside, which would have been really easy, now it looks clean. Tore into the chaos in my 200A panel last month and removed all double taps, and placed multiwire branch circuits on the appropriate buses and strapped those breakers together. My wife was on my case because the home inspection report stated double taps in the panel, ok, admittingly it took me 4 months to fix them and the 10 min it took to fix the problem would have been a good investment earlier to make her happy. Switching all outdoor floods to LED (love them)...next is the generator, transfer switch going in, gas is ready, wallet is not ready yet however for gen. Thinking about a lightning protection system. Someday, I might be finished with the electrical. Whew is right...and then there is everything else non-electrical to think about....

 

[grizz_660]

I find it odd how they can allow the "push into the back of the device" to fly. It is a terrible system.

 

[Jarnipman]

Agreed, the push in systems are horrid, I have read that babies have been burned to death from arc fires resulting from their use. It's disgusting that anyone actually uses them and everyone admits to me that they don't use them, but I always see them backstabbed, so someone is lying. There must be a conspiracy of the vendors lobbying for their use or corporate home builders are whipping their electricians to cut costs. Firemen and ER docs have better things to do than deal with backstabbed electrical disasters. I submitted my recommendation for the new NEC code cycle, so at least I feel like a good voting American. With new wiring, it's really not that time consuming to pigtail and loop under the terminals, I sleep better at night knowing I did not backstab anything even if I loose pennies in the time it takes me to not backstab. It's like another 20 seconds to loop the wires. Now they have the stab blocks instead of pigtailing and they are at Home Depot, so they will be everywhere. Will the blocks hold the wires and prevent arcing 20 years from now after the wires change temperature for decades, I know my pigtails and screw terminals are not going anywhere.

 

[Jarnipman]

Agreed, the push in systems are horrid, I have read that babies have been burned to death from arc fires resulting from their use. It's disgusting that anyone actually uses them and everyone admits to me that they don't use them, but I always see them backstabbed, so someone is lying. There must be a conspiracy of the vendors lobbying for their use or corporate home builders are whipping their electricians to cut costs. Firemen and ER docs have better things to do than deal with backstabbed electrical disasters. I submitted my recommendation for the new NEC code cycle, so at least I feel like a good voting American. With new wiring, it's really not that time consuming to pigtail and loop under the terminals, I sleep better at night knowing I did not backstab anything even if I loose pennies in the time it takes me to not backstab. It's like another 20 seconds to loop the wires. Now they have the stab blocks instead of pigtailing and they are at Home Depot, so they will be everywhere. Will the blocks hold the wires and prevent arcing 20 years from now after the wires change temperature for decades, I know my pigtails and screw terminals are not going anywhere.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Agreed, the push in systems are horrid, I have read that babies have been burned to death from arc fires resulting from their use. It's disgusting that anyone actually uses them and everyone admits to me that they don't use them, but I always see them backstabbed, so someone is lying. There must be a conspiracy of the vendors lobbying for their use or corporate home builders are whipping their electricians to cut costs. Firemen and ER docs have better things to do than deal with backstabbed electrical disasters. I submitted my recommendation for the new NEC code cycle, so at least I feel like a good voting American. With new wiring, it's really not that time consuming to pigtail and loop under the terminals, I sleep better at night knowing I did not backstab anything even if I loose pennies in the time it takes me to not backstab. It's like another 20 seconds to loop the wires. Now they have the stab blocks instead of pigtailing and they are at Home Depot, so they will be everywhere. Will the blocks hold the wires and prevent arcing 20 years from now after the wires change temperature for decades, I know my pigtails and screw terminals are not going anywhere.

Its been ilegal here since late 80s/early 90s to backfeed.

 

[reader2580]

60 outlets seems like a lot to add. I counted quickly and I think I only have about 40 outlets on the entire main level of my house. I did add a few new outlets in this house when I was renovating it before moving in.

I wired my last house myself with extra outlets as it was easy to do during construction. I still wish I had added a few more outlets in strategic locations. If I build another house I will think very carefully about where to put outlets.

 

[Outlander]

Judging by the number of power bars I trip over here at the cottage, I probably need more outlets!

 

[sberry]

I have near 200 circuit breakers,,, ha I must have right around 120 in shop. Whoops, retract that, about 100

 

[rutwad]

I have near 200 circuit breakers,,, ha I must have right around 120 in shop. Whoops, retract that, about 100

200 circuits, WOW!!!

 

[sberry]

I have 24 panels on 2 services and a couple more on another. Probably another one i miss.
The breaker count is probably low.

 

[CoogarXR]

The first house I ever bought had only 4 outlets in the entire 2nd floor. One in each bedroom, and one tiny "shaver outlet" on the bathroom light fixture, lol. My how far we've come.

 

[PelicanPines]

i walked around my house when it was just sticks and put postits where i wanted extra outlets... sounds about right...

SOOO missed doing the garage tho... i have added about 10 there and it's not enough.

 

[sberry]

I actually got rid of a few things and add power strips as needed, at one point had about 30 outlets in 10 ft, a lot of this stuff is gone now though. We made a real charging station and the old phones went, old 2 way and a bunch of TV stuff is now obsolete.

 

[Jess]

Its been ilegal here since late 80s/early 90s to backfeed.

Where I am located, you can purchase and use devices that are back connected, but the difference is that you tighten the side screw to clamp the wire. It makes it a lot easier in tight situations. These are various but Leviton and other common major brands supply them. They may be only 'Spec' grade not the el cheapo econo stuff. We get them by the box from the electrical supplier.

 

[matt_i]

Its interesting, terminal block versions of spring clip wire retainers work quite well in industrial controls (thinking of Weidmuller). Something got cheaped out in residential outlets...

It does make sense to add outlets, especially if covering with drywall, as it costs a heck of a lot more to place them later.

 

[MushCreek]

I just finished building our house, and I thought we had overkill at 25 circuits and 52 outlets. As it is, we don't use half the outlets. The garage only has three, but it is a one car parking garage, not a work shop.