Do you need more points of sale in your home? How to add more power outlets without having to rewire your home!
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In today's households, an average of 11 devices are connected, seven of which have screens. That means, unless you have a newly built home, and maybe even if you do, you will need more sales points in your home! However, rewiring your home is a huge task that is best left to the professionals. That doesn't mean you have to hire an electrician to add a few more outlets to your house. If a power strip or extension cord stops cutting it, here are your options.
Turn a lamp into a socket
An easy way to bring more electrical outlets into your home is to turn an existing light fixture into an electrical outlet. If the wiring is already in place, all you need to do is remove the light and wire an outlet in the same location instead. You need needle-nosed pliers, a non-contact voltage stripper, wire strippers and a screwdriver. Simply disconnect the circuit from the circuit and unscrew the light from the junction box after carefully removing any glass balls or covers from the light. Disconnect the wiring in the ceiling or wall and plug in your new electrical outlet instead.
There should be three wires connected to your light fixture: white, black and green or blank. Sometimes you get a red wire instead of a black one. The green or bare wire is the ground, and you connect this to the green ground screw on the side or back of your new outlet. The black or red wire is usually hot and connects to the brass screw in your socket. The white wire is either neutral or hot and connects to the silver screw in your new socket.
Usually, the tricky part of replacing a light fixture with an outlet is mending the hole in the ceiling. Lights are usually larger and differently shaped than sockets. Before installing your new outlet, you'll need to mend the hole in the drywall to make your new outlet fit. Don't you want to give up your lamp? You can replace it with a device that has an electrical outlet. This is a great option for bathrooms and closets where space is limited and you may need extra lights as well as another electrical outlet. If you don't want to do any wiring work at all, you can purchase an adapter to turn an existing lamp socket into an electrical outlet.
Add additional sockets to an existing circuit
As long as you don't plan to plug in something that uses a lot of electricity, such as You can easily add additional sockets to an existing circuit, for example a room heating system. Most people, however, hire an electrician to do this type of job because there will be more cables running through your walls and the new work will need to be approved and inspected. Just fishing cables through the wall from one outlet to another or from a junction box in the ceiling to another location in the wall is more work than most homeowners want to deal with on their own.
However, there is a way to add more sockets to an existing circuit without cutting into walls. You can use surface ducts to run new cables on the outside of your walls. It looks neat and tidy and doesn't require you to cut your walls or fish wires through the insides of your walls. You can paint the ducts to match your walls or leave them in a contrasting color. You use the same tools that you use to replace a light fixture with an outlet, but you'll also need a hacksaw to cut the surface channels. Plastic surface channels are available and easier to cut than metal channels. You should have some electrical knowledge if you plan to run more cables around your home, including using surface ducts. Your electrical inspector can advise you on how to safely add additional receptacles to an existing circuit. You need a permit and inspection for this type of work.
Adding more outlets to your home can be a challenge, but the cost is worth it. You have all the power you need for all of your family's electronics and can reduce or eliminate the need for unsightly power strips and extension cords for trip hazards. It's a home improvement project that you will be excited about.
