Attic Wiring Red Hot

Since red wires still conduct current they are considered hot.

Attic wiring red hot. Connect the green wire to your household ground wire copper bare wire. Insert the end of the 12 2 wire into the fans junction box. When cutting through drywall from the interior of a room use a utility knife and cut carefully you don t want to drill through a hidden wire or the paper. In the attic had all whites and all blacks together.

Turn the wire nut clockwise. Ground wires return fault current to earth ground protecting the individual from electrocution. I got it all to work on one switch then i added the second set of wires and tried to run a pigtail from the hot wires in the box black and red pigtailed together to the bottom screw and the white wire on the top screw. Strip away about 6 inches of outer insulation and 1 2 inch of individual insulation from the end of each wire.

If the wires are buried in attic insulation pass over light fixtures or worst of all are arranged in tight bundles they get even hotter than if they re out in the open air. These are called travelers and typically used for two way switch wiring. A ground wire is used as a protective measure. Once the air in the attic has become hot another thermodynamic process called convection occurs.

Turn the plastic wire nuts also called wire caps onto the ends of the wires. In order for the light to be controlled by its own switch the wiring between the switch and the fan unit needs a fourth wire a red wire to carry power to the light kit. Wire nuts that are too big will not sufficiently grip the wire and will fall off. Wires so hot you can t touch them aren t good.

If you will need to fish wiring through a wall drill a hole through the wood plate in the attic only. Wire nuts that are too small may initially feel like they are on the wire but they too may fall off. Use the appropriate size of wire nut for the wire. And use semi rigid wiring fish tape to pull your wiring down to your outlet location.

Red wires are commonly found in sheathed multi conductor cable. Convection is the characteristic that makes hot air rise and cool air sink and it is at this point where a good ventilation system comes into play.