More Power!

I’m a pretty awesome guy. I realize that, and I admit it, because it saves time.

Today I managed to install a 4-plug 20-amp socket inside my air handler closet. I also yanked an ancient light socket that went nowhere, capped the wires, shoved them back in the wall, and filled the void with Great Stuff so I’ll have a base on which to pile the patching stuff later.

I only worked about two hours, but I am wiped out. The air handler takes up almost the entire closet, and I was working in spaces about 15″ wide. Sometimes I had to back out and go back in to change tools. Exasperating.

At the outset, all I had was about eight feet of Romex going into the closet and attached to a 220-volt, 40-amp breaker at the panel. I had to remove the breaker, put in a 20-amp 120-volt breaker, cap the excess wires, rearrange everything so the colors were appropriate, attach hangy things to the wall in the closet to make the Romex to a square box, attach the square box to the wall, wire up two receptacles, attach the house wiring to the receptacles, and put the box together.

Because I plan to continue the circuit past the box (for some lights and the outdoor stuff), I decided to make the receptacle wiring super anal retentive. I used crimp-on eye connectors and extra wire to connect the receptacles to each other. Then I put eyes on the house wiring. I attached the receptacles to the face plate (which required me to come up with my own bolts), and then I put the whole mess together. If you know anything about the way electricians usually crap this stuff up, you will understand how weird my method was. But it’s incredibly clean, neat, and organized, and it will be much easier to run the additional stuff because I was so meticulous.

I removed a considerable amount of garbage the electricians and AC guys had left. By that, I don’t mean trash. I mean stupid things that needed to be corrected. The AC guy needed power to run a doodad connected to the handler. Did he put in a circuit? No, he drilled a hole into the garage wall, took an extension cord, and ran it out to one of my precious garage sockets. I kid you not. I got rid of that Sanford & Son monstrosity today. I had to sever the cord to pull it out of the wall. While I was at Home Depot, I looked for a plug I could splice onto it, but they cost nearly as much as new cords, so I’m tossing it.

Here’s a plug for Klein tools. I was tired, and I somehow got confused, and I cut the extension cord while there was still juice running through it. I popped the breaker when I shorted the wires. Those insulated handles work.

Tonight or tomorrow I’ll run conduit and connect this circuit to the outdoor stuff, and I’ll see if anything explodes.

I can’t say this emphatically enough: you need to overdo things when you work on your house. Example: never settle for a two-plug receptacle when you can have four. Never settle for a 15-amp circuit when you can have 20. Never get the crazy idea that you have enough power outlets. Sometimes you can add five dollars to the cost of a job and save yourself a lifetime of frustration and misery. Electrical stuff is very cheap, and if you spend a little extra, you can improve the livability of your house a great deal.

And always try to make things easier on yourself in the future. When you install something, imagine yourself trying to work on it a year later, and try to take the landmines and booby-traps out of it. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I am smart enough to realize that doing things right makes a big difference.

When this is over, I’ll have four sockets in the closet, two banks of lights in the closet, two more garage sockets, and a well-grounded 20-amp circuit that ISN’T connected to a 60-amp fuse.

Someday, I want an all-concrete house with concrete floors and double-pane windows. I want drains in the floors. I want to be able to clean the place with a hose and a leaf blower. I am fed up with frustrating BS that wastes my time.

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I just have to offer myself this little salute.