Education Standards
Switched Outlet Wiring
Switched Outlet Wiring KEY
Recommended Tools and Supplies List
On The Whiteboard -- NEC codes
Grading Rubric
How to wire an outlet to a switch (half hot receptacle)
Installing a switched electrical outlet (half hot)
Overview
This lesson goes through the steps of installing a electrical switched outlet. It starts with having the students draw out how to wire the switch and outlet while watching a short video. It procedds to the actual installation of the wires, outlet, and switch. While performing it a few electrical codes are introduced and followed. When students are done with the wiring it is tested out with a lamp to see if the installation is correct.
Complete Wiring Diagram
Using the two handouts provide to you --Wiring Handout Rules and Wiring a switched outlet --
Finish filling in the diagram as you watch "How to wire an outlet switch (half hot receptacle)
Get tools and Material Needed for Activity
After having the instructor initial your drawing, retrieve your supplies for your project.
Tools will need to be shared and will be in tool boxes on bench near to your wall;
Supplies to get:
- One - plug-in with approximately three foot of 14 - 2 romex (wire) attached
- One - 5 ½ feet of 14- 3 Romex (wire)
- Two - 6 inch wires for pigtail (one -- black wire and one -- bare wire)
- Three Wire Staples
- Three - electrical nuts
- One - Electrical Switch
- One - two receptacle Outlet
Once you have your supplies head over to your assigned wall
Run wires into Gang boxes and staple in place
*****BEFORE WORKING ON PROJECT FOLLOW ALL SAFET RULES AND DO NOT PLUG INTO LIVE EXTENSION CORD UNTIL ALL THE WAY DONE AND INSPECTED BY TEACHER.*****
- Take and insert the wires from your plug-in 6" into the back of the lower outlet box. Then take and Staple the other part of the wire within 8" of box.
- Now take one end of the 14 - 3 wire and insert into the lower outlet box. Then take the other end of the wire and run it through hole drilled in the 2 x 4 and continue up to feed it into upper box.
- Make sure you have 6" coming into each outlet box. Once you have that take place a staple within 8" of both boxes,
Strip insulation from wires
- Now you are ready to strip the insulation off the wires using wire strippers. First on the Romex use the utility knife to peel back most of the outer insulation and cardboard off the wires in Gang box. NOT THE INDIVIDUAL WIRES INSULATION (At anytime you have a question please ask your instructor)
- After removing outer layer you are now ready to strip 3/4" off the ends of the colored wires (except the white one in switch box). Make sure you also strip off both ends of black pigtail.
Hooking wires to switch and outlet
Make Sure that all hooks are put in a clockwise manner and tightened down before going to next screw. This will help avoid loose contacts causing problems.
- Working with bottom outlet first. Take bare wire pigtail and twist it with the other two bare wires and install the wire nut on them. Now on the other end of the pigtail take and make a hook and put it around the green screw in a clockwise fashion. Take and tight screw with screwdriver.
- Next take a white wire make a hook in it and put it around a silver screw in a clockwise fashion and tighten it down. Repeat with the other white wire putting it on the other silver screw and tighten it.
- You will now break off the tab between the brass colored screws thus making two differently controlled outlet receptacles.
- Taking the black pigtail twist it together with the other two black wires and put on wire nut. Take the other end of the pigtail and put it around the top brass screw in clockwise manner and tighten down.
- The last wire hooked up in the bottom gang box is the red wire take it and hook it up to the bottom brass screw in clockwise fashion and tighten down, Note do not tighten outlet to gang box until inspected by teacher.
- You are now ready to work with the on/off switch and the wires in the top gang box. Take and make a hook in bare wire and hook it up to green screw,
- Next take wire nut and put it around white wire (this wire is not used just required to be here by code).
- Take black wire and put it on top brass screw and tighten it. The last wire is the red wire and neede to be hooked up to bottom brass screw, Note do not tighten switch to gang box until inspected by teacher.
Finish up and test to see that it works properly
- After all wiring is done have instructor come over and test it with you using DVOM. Once they say it is okay to go further you will bolt outlet and switch to gang boxes and put on covers.
- Then you will plug in the plugin you installed to an extension cord that has power to it. You will then plug a lamp into the top outlet rectacle with switch you installed in off position. It should light and stay lit in both on and off position. Now plug lamp into lower rectacle and lamp should be off. Flipping switch to on should light the lamp. Turn it on and off a couple of times to make sure it works.
- Put away tools and clean up any messes you made, Once you are done with the clean up turn in your wire drawing.
Great Job!!!!! You are finished with this project.
For the Instructor
This lesson is designed for my Home Maintenance class but can work well with Construction or Electrical wiring classes also. I have modified my normal method of wiring to fit the YouTube video attached to lesson. AS I usually teach feeding the wires into the switch and then going to the outlet thus not having that extra wire in the gang box. But I could only find one YouTube video that showed the method I have taught but it was 5 minutes into the video before he showed my method as another way to do it. Plus, I didn’t like the flow of the video, so I found another video for this lesson.
Prerequisite for my class – the students need to be a Junior or a Senior. Recommended the students have taken a woods class and/or a construction class.
I have included worksheets to check out before you get started, I have included one mark On the Whiteboard -- NEC codes. I write those three codes on the board and cover them before we get started.
So, after covering the Codes, I go over the wiring rules for their drawings.
The wall frames I used at the end of last year and I will do the same this year is an Eight-foot-tall four feet wide and 4-foot-long with door and two windows constructed in it. I have used 4 foot by 4-foot sections constructed by my Home maintenance class also. So, when I have my students run the wires, we have covered Electrical Safety, plus the students hang the gang boxes and drill hole through stud before this lesson. The class has already wired their own 3-foot-long plugin and have practice wiring in an outlet.