Old House Wiring Color Code
The us national electrical code for both ac and dc mandates that the grounded neutral conductor of a power system be white or grey.
Old house wiring color code. Identifying old wiring. But looking deeper the color of the wires inside of the sheathing reveals that different colored wires serve different purposes. Wiring regulations saw a change to harmonise the uk wiring colours with european cable colours for consistency and to avoid confusion. The home wire color code was created for safety and convenience.
The national electrical code nec says that white or gray must be used for neutral conductors and that bare copper or green wires must be used as ground wires. In 2006 amendment 2 of 17 th edition bs7671 wiring regulations saw a change to harmonise the uk colours with the european cable colours for consistency and to avoid confusion. The new color code is introduced recently although the old convention is pretty much still widely used. The ceramic insulators keep the wires from touching each other and from.
It s important that properties get their wiring checked to see if the wiring colours are out of date have deteriorated over time and to check if they comply with bs 7671 wiring. Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches distribution boards sockets and light fittings in a structure. New vs old wiring colours. According to the old standard red is used for live or line power conductor black for neutral and green for protective earth or ground.
The gauge or size of the wire may change depending on the current requirement of the circuit but the color is a consistent feature. The oldest type of wiring system found in homes is called knob and tube named for the insulating knobs and tubes are used to run the wiring along and through the house framing knob and tube wiring was run as individual wires one black hot wire and one white neutral wire throughout the home. Allowable wire and cable types and sizes are specified according to the circuit operating voltage and electric current capability with further restrictions on the. However common practice per local electrical inspectors is for the first hot live or active wire to be black and the.
Hot active wires may be any other colors except these. What follows here is the standard coloring for wires throughout a home. We illustrate a variety of types of electrical wiring found in older buildings. House wiring electrical wire colors.
Standard colors used for home wiring. Posted on february 28 2014 by complete electrical solutions. The protective ground must be bare green or green yellow striped. The standard for electrical wiring color code in india is as follows.
It allows electrical workers to identify wires and work with them without risk. The wire that carries the current from the power source to the outlet or receptacle is the hot wire. Old electrical wiring types photo guide to types of electrical wiring in older buildings.