Electrical

Please read our disclaimer.

All the DIY know-how you could possibly need is now available on the web, but where exactly do you look for it? I've hand-compiled a list of over 150 of the best DIY electrical pages I could find, helping you understand everything from fuseboxes to lightning strikes—all on one handy, uncluttered web page! If you want more general DIY advice (things like plumbing, building, home decorating, and woodworking), check out our home page.

Introduction

You might think electricity is an amazing invention—but it was more of a discovery. Eletricity is not an invention at all, but a basic aspect of how our world works. Electricity is caused by electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. It's easiest to think of electricity as a kind of energy that builds up in one place (static electricity) or moves from place to place (current electricity). The appliances and gadgets that feature so prominently in our lives use either one or both of these aspects of electricity. Laser printers and photocopiers are based on static electricity, for example, while batteries, electric motors, and electronic circuits use current electricity.

Of course, as you wrestle with your broken Christmas tree lights (for the fifth year running), curse when a fuse blows, or search for the candles during a power outage, fundamental forces, electrical energy, and electromagnetism are the last things on your mind: all you care about is getting the power back on again. That illustrates the one big problem with electricity: it's so incredibly convenient and reliable that we take it for granted. Can you imagine life without it?

It's hard for us to appreciate now but homes, offices, and other buildings have been powered by electricity only for about 100 years or so. It was only at the end of the 19th century that amazingly prolific US inventor Thomas Edison built the first electric-power generating plants, making electricity on a big enough scale to light the world with his much-improved design of electric lamp. Once electric power started to become widely available, modern appliances started to appear (during the early decades of the 20th century).

As concerns mount about the environmental impacts of using fossil fuels, electric power is becoming more important than ever. Since they first appeared in the 19th century, virtually all cars have been powered by petroleum; soon, gasoline engines will be a distant memory and we'll all be buzzing down the street in electric cars and buggies! Our homes will still be powered by electricity, but we'll be generating more of our own through solar panels, micro wind turbines, and other kinds of renewable energy. Electricity has had a glorious history so far, but it's only just beginning!

~

From changing a fuse to wiring a plug, all of us need to know a least a little bit about electricity. That's what this simple web page is all about. Here you'll find over 150 hand-compiled, hand-reviewed links offering you a basic introduction to virtually everything you could ever want to know about electricity in your home, from finding a reputable electrician to simple science fair projects for the kids!

We hope you find the information here helpful!

Please be sure to read the site disclaimer and privacy policy.

Update status

Last updated: 13 May 2011. Links completely checked, revised, and updated.

Add us to your favorites!

Now you've found this page, don't lose it! With most web browsers, you can press CTRL and D to add us to your favorites/bookmarks for future reference!

Share this page

You can help other people find this page by bookmarking it with:

Delicious  Digg  reddit   Facebook   StumbleUpon   Google   Email it to a friend

Link to this page

If you'd like to link to this page, thank you! Here's some code you can cut and paste:

<a href="http://www.completediyguide.com/electrical.html">Complete Electrical Guide</a>

Sponsored links

Contents: what's on this page

• Safety advice: before you start
• Finding a qualified electrician/electrical contractor
• Choosing and using electrical tools
• Introductory articles about electricity
• Introduction to home electricity circuits
• Electrical testing
• Useful pages on popular DIY sites
• Indoor lighting
• Outdoor lighting
• Everyday electrical jobs and repairs
• Wiring and circuit diagrams
• Electronics
• Magazines
• Books
• Stores supplying electrical parts and electronic components

Safety advice: before you start

General DIY safety

• DIY safety: A good collection of advice from the BBC.
• DIY Network: Home Safety: DIY Network has 100 articles on safety alone!
• RoSPA DIY safety advice: A few basic tips from British safety organization (scroll down to the very end of the list).
• DIYnot.com's guide to DIY safety: Plan your work in advance and you're more likely to stay safe. DIYnot has an eight-part safety guide, with part 3 dedicated to electrical safety.

Electrical DIY safety

• Electrical Safety Foundation International: An excellent resource for all kinds of information about electrical dangers and how to stay safe. Covers everything from appliance safety to safety during the holiday season and includes lots of easy-to-print PDF guides.
• Dangers of Electricity: A basic introduction to electricity dangers provided by Child Safety Australia.
• Electrical information for householders: A very good introduction to the importance of electrical safety from the UK's NICEIC.
• Electrical safety: A detailed introduction to electrical safety from Electricians Toolbox Etc, including first aid, electric shock, fire safety, hazardous locations, and tips on clothing and personal safety equipment.
• Howstuffworks: How to Do Home Electrical Repairs: A basic introduction to the safety considerations you need to bear in mind before carrying out repairs.
• Electrics Safety: A very basic introduction from diyfixit.
• Wickes: DIY Electrical Safety: The UK DIY store explains the UK's new (from 2005) electrical rules.
• Electrical Safety: An extremely brief intro from the Government of New Zealand.
• How to Work with Electricity Safely: A simple list of things to bear in mind before you start.

Electrical safety equipment

Some simple introductions from Explainthatstuff.com:

• Fuses and fuseboxes: A basic introduction to what they are and how they work.
• Residual current device (RCD): A handy plug-in circuit breaker that helps to reduce the risks of electrocution.
• Surge protectors: Aown quick intro to surge cubes (made by companies such as Belkin) that protect your appliances from power spikes and surges and an explanation of how they actually work.

Finding a qualified electrician/electrical contractor

As far as we can tell, these are the most definitive lists of electrical contractors in each country:

• USA: National Electrical Contractors Association: How to find a qualified electrical contractor in the United States (someone who complies with the National Electrical Code™ or NEC).
• UK: NICEIC: NICEIC is the electrical contracting industry's independent voluntary body for electrical installation matters throughout the UK. Click on "contractor search" to find approved contractors in the UK.
• Ireland: Register of Electrical Contractors of Ireland: A self-regulatory body for Ireland's 2000 electricians.
• Canada: Canadian Electrical Contractors Association: The main trade association for Canada's 8000 electrical contractors.
• New Zealand: Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand (ECANZ): According to ECANZ, they offer: "the best way to ensure you get a quality electrical contractor and be covered by the MASTERelectricians free guarantee".
• Australia: National Electrical and Communications Association: The National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) is the national voice of the electrotechnology contracting industry in Australia. Click on "find a contractor" to search their database of members.
• Hong Kong: Electrical and Mechanical Services Department: Follow the links to find details of approved consultants, suppliers, contractors, and other "competent persons".

Choosing and using electrical power tools

General power tools

• Electric Tool Guide: A good explanation of the advantages of electric tools and reviews of different brands.
• DIY and Home Improvement, Choosing Electrical Power Tools: by Bill Bradley. A basic introduction to things you should consider before buying new power tools.
• Power tools that rule: by Steve Maxwell. Quite a good introduction to different kinds of drills (corded versus corded, different power levels, etc).
• Electric screwdriver: a buyer's guide from Homebase UK.
• Power drills: a buyer's guide from Homebase UK.

Introductory articles about electricity

These are some of my own introductory articles from my other website (explainthatstuff.com). These vary in complexity, but most are designed to be simple enough for students to understand:

• Amplifiers
• Batteries
• Battery chargers
• Capacitors
• Diodes and LEDs
• Electricity
• Electrical energy monitors
• Electric doorbells
• Electric motors
• Electrolyzers
• Electronics
• Filament lamps
• Fuses
• Generators
• Heating elements
• Hub motors
• Incandescent (filament) lamps
• Induction chargers
• Inverters
• Lithium-ion batteries
• Magnetism
• Oscilloscopes
• Photoelectric cells
• Piezoelectricity
• Power plants (power stations)
• RCD circuit breakers
• Reed switches
• Relays
• Resistors
• Strobe lights
• Supercapacitors
• Superconductors
• Surge protectors
• Transformers
• Xenon lamps.

Introduction to home electricity circuits

• USA: Howstuffworks: How to Do Home Electrical Repairs: Not just about repairs. A fairly comprehensive introduction to all aspects of home electricity.
• USA: Know Your Home's Electrical System: The main features of a home electrical system and why good planning is important.
• USA: Popular Mechanics: How your house works: electrics: Originally printed as a gatefold poster, this excellent article introduces the main points of home wiring, including the service panel, switches and receptacles, GFCI, and much more.
• USA: Electrical system repair: This repair guide from Fix-It Club is also a good overview of how your household electricity system works.
• USA: Home electrical wiring: Understanding the power circuits that supply your home and some basic tasks you can do yourself (e.g. how to replace an electrical cord).
• UK: Understanding electric lighting circuits: A great intro from diydata. Explains how lighting circuits are wired in UK homes.
• UK: Understanding ring and power circuits: Another good article from diydata. A look at the main power circuits in a home, including the ring main (ring circuit). UK information.

Electrical testing

General and background guides

• Voltmeter: A fairly clear and simple introduction on Wikipedia.
• The Basics of Digital Multimeters: "A primer on symbology, terminology, connections, and basic measurement techniques for modern multimeters."
• Electronic test equipment: A brief review of different kinds of test equipment (e.g. osilloscopes, voltmeters, ammeters, signal generators, etc) from Wikipedia.

Practical testing guides

• How to Test Electrical Current With a Voltage Tester: An illustrated photographic guide from About.com Home Renovations.
• How To Test Outlet Voltage: A basic explanation of voltage testing from Acme Howto.
• Electrical testing tips: Diagnosing simple faults with appliances by testing resistance and voltage.
• How to Test a Circuit Breaker with a Voltage Tester: A simple, illustrated how-to guide from the Dummies website.
• How to reset a circuit breaker: A simple, illustrated how-to guide from the Dummies website.

Useful pages on popular DIY sites

• Ask the builder: electrical: Lots of electrical tips and an "Electrical 101" from Tim Carter.
• DIY chatroom: A message board/forum website. Click on "Electrical" to read or post queries about home electric problems.
• DIY Doctor: Lots of electrical projects here (browse under "E" in the alphabetical index—they all begin "Electrical...")
• DIYnot: Plenty of good electrical advice and project guides here! Note that some of the electrical info is UK specific, however.
• Hometips.com: Click on electrical in the sidebar for articles on all kinds of simple electrical tasks and problems.
• Mrs Fixit: Go to the "Category drop down" and click on "Electrical & lighting" for a selection of basic aDIY electrical advice, including handy help with some of the nicer aspects of home redecoration (choosing a chandelier, making your outlets match), and so on..
• Ron Hazleton's House Calls: Lighting: Ron explores some of the simpler home lighting jobs.
• This Old House: Home electrical lighting: Lots of simple, well-illustrated project guides.

Indoor lighting

Installation

• Askthebuilder: Lighting: Tim Carter's dependably excellent website has lots of articles (and project sheets) covering most kinds of indoor lighting.
• Home Tips: Lighting: Lots of tips and project sheets here for everything from how to install track lighting to how to replace a fluorescent lamp starter.
• Dummies: Electrical and lighting: Quite a few useful illustrated photo guides. Includes how to install a dimmer switch, how to install track lighting, etc.
• 5 Fast Lighting Upgrades: DIY Guy: A quick way to improve your home with lighting. A guide from Popular Mechanics.
• Low-voltage lighting primer: A good introduction to low-voltage halogen and xenon lighting systems, transformers, etc. from EC&M magazine.
• Lighting energy efficiency: Tips on saving energy from the Canadian government.
• Home Lighting Control Alliance: Founded in 2006 to educate the public about home lighting control technology, design, application and benefits.
• Home Lighting and Accessories: Long-established trade magazine covering all aspects of home lighting. Includes an online magazine section and a searchable database of lighting suppliers, manufacturers, stores, etc.
• Your 6-Step Action Plan to Brighter Closets: A guide from Popular Mechanics.

Design

• Home Lighting Ideas: Practical suggestions ideas from Sylvania. How to achieve a range of lighting effects in the different rooms of your home.
• BBC Homes: Design: Lighting: An introduction to lighting design. Explains how to use the right lighting in different rooms.
• Philips: Welcome to home lighting: How to create lighting effects with different kinds of light bulbs.
• Let's Renovate: A collection of Lighting ideas and resources.
• Lighting ideas: A comprehensive collection of advice from the American Lighting Association.
• Effective Ways To Use Home Lighting In Interior Decorating: Lots of tips here from Home Decorating Made Easy website.
• Lighting Buying Guide: eBay offers some basic advice for lighting buyers.

Outdoor lighting

• How to Design a Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting System: Things you need to consider, including trenches, photometrics, transformers, light layouts, mounting techniques, the problem of voltage drop, etc. A good intro from elights.com.
• How To Install Low-Voltage Outdoor Lighting: A clearly illustrated and comprehensive guide from Popular Mechanics.
• How to Put in Landscape Lighting: A step-by-step guide from This Old House.
• How to Create a Chimney Pot Garden Light: A video project guide from This Old House.
• Shedding light on soft winter nights: How to brighten the patio space outside your home.
• Designing with Light Outdoors: A simple introduction to effects you can achieve, from the American Lighting Association.

Everyday electrical jobs and repairs

Simple jobs

• Videojug: How To Change A Fuse In A Traditional Fuse Box: A very clear and simple video guide showing you what to do when a fuse blows.
• Videojug: How To Reset A Fuse In A Circuit Breaker Unit: Another clear and simple video guide explains what to do with a modern circuit breaker unit (the modern version of a fuse box).
• UK: Changing a fuse: How to change a fuse in a plug. A simply illustrated guide, but note that it's UK specific.
• UK: Wiring a plug: How to wire up an electrical plug. This is UK information again.

Harder stuff: "how-to..." project guides

• DIYnot.com electrics pages: Lots of different electrical tasks explained very clearly and simply, from extending a flex to replacing a light switch.
• Howstuffworks: How to Do Home Electrical Repairs: Explains home electricity from first principles, including how electricity gets into your home and what happens to it afterward.
• Electrical Appliance Manual (Haynes for home DIY) : by Graham Dixon. An introductory photo guide to taking apart and repairing common electrical appliances. There are various editions of this book, some newer than others, and some of the advice may now be out-of-dated. But the basic principles still hold true.
• Fix-it Club: Electrical Fix-It Guides: Lots of how-to fixit guides covering everything from home electricity circuits to small appliances.
• How to Install Electrical Wiring: Basic wiring explained with easy-to-understand diagrams. Not a lot of detail, however, and no photos.
• ACME Howto: DIY Home Repair Guide: An online library of test/repair guides for all kinds of domestic appliances.
• Basic Electric information at DoItYourself.com: A basic introduction to some of the simpler household electrical tasks.
• Electrical Online: A website "created to answer all of your questions regarding basic home wiring projects and problems."
• DIY Data: Electrics: Some basic electrical tasks explored here, including replacing a ceiling light rose, electricity in the bathroom, etc.
• Doityourself.com: Appliances: Repair guides for dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, clothes dryers, and other household appliances.
• How to Repair Small Appliances: Covers how to repair a toaster, toaster oven, coffee maker, food mixer, blender, vacuum cleaner, and more!
• Hometime.com: How-to: Electrical: A gentle introduction to basic home electrics. Includes how-to install sockets and switches, how to run cable, and common electrical codes.
• Dummies: How to Replace a Standard Switch with a Dimmer Switch: A video guide.
• Dummies: How to Install Track Lighting: A step-by-step photo guide, also from Dummies.
• Electrical Online: Home Electrical Projects Made Easy: Terry Peterman offers a variety of hints and tips and sells how-to books and DVDs through his site.

Wiring and circuit diagrams

Electrical

• Residential wiring diagrams: A simple introduction from Wikipedia.
• Common Wiring Diagrams for the Do-It-Yourselfer: A selection of basic home wiring diagrams, including three-way switches, four-way switches, switched outlets, and more.
• Free electrical-formulas and diagrams download: A condensed electrical guide with electrical-formulas, diagrams, and codes to use on a building site for quick reference, from Make Your Own House.

Electronic

• Circuit diagram: Another introduction from Wikipedia.
• Circuit Symbols: A table of all the basic circuit symbols from The Electronics Club.

Electronics

Introductions from Explainthatstuff

There are various introductory articles about electronics on the main part of our website:

• Electronics
• Capacitors
• Diodes and LEDs
• OLEDs (organic LEDs) and LEPs (light-emitting polymers)
• Resistors
• Transistors

More guides for beginners

• The Electronics Club: An excellent resource for hobbyists. Covers the theory of electronics and includes lots of practical projects you can build yourself too.
• Design electronics: by W.D. Phillips. A good, basic introductory electronics course (though it doesn't appear to be complete yet).
• Wikibooks: Practical Electronics: A simple hands-on guide to electronics written by volunteers (the emphasis is on practical, useful circuitry).
• Wikibooks: Electronics: A more theoretical guide to electronics—how components actually work etc.
• Electronics: An Online Guide for Beginners.: A simple introduction to basic concepts. Mostly theory, but includes a page of simple electronic projects you can try for yourself.
• Electronics Introduction: An Introduction to basic electronics for KS3, KS4 and revision for KS5.

How-to solder

• How to solder: A simple, written explanation with proper illustrations and a good, clear photo showing examples of both good and bad soldered joints.
• How to solder: A clearly illustrated guide covers all the bases: what equipment you need, how to prepare, how to solder, how to inspect the joint for problems afterward.
• How to solder: A very clear, illustrated guide with a strong emphasis on safety and specific tips on how to solder the more fragile (i.e. heat-sensitive) components.
• How to solder properly: A Maplin video now on YouTube.

Projects

• Electronics Lab: Projects: A huge and varied selection (400 projects), with circuit diagrams and instructions.
• Electricity & Electronics Project Ideas: Lots of great project ideas for science fairs, clearly graded by difficulty. Click on "Project ideas", then "Electricity and electronics".
• Electronics projects: A nice selection from The Electronics Club. Kits of all these projects are available from a supplier linked from the project pages.
• Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories: Tried of run-of-the-mill project sites? Try this one from the "evil" Dr Windell Oskay and colleagues instead. It's surprising, witty, nutty, off-the-wall, and quite brilliant.
• Electronics Info Online: A varied selection of simple projects with circuit diagrams (some suitable for beginners).
• Hobby Projects: Electronic Hobby Circuits and Tutorials: Lots of background information and many links to projects and circuits you can build as well.
• Electronics: Science fair projects and experiments: Plenty of ideas here for simple science fair experiments.
• Hacked Gadgets: Lots of good stuff here!

Magazines

• Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M): Leading US technical magazine for electrical contractors and other electrical professionals. Lots of articles available online.
• IEEE Spectrum: Journal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, though not confined to electrical issues anymore—it now tackles technology more generally.
• Electrical Contractor: US magazine for contractors. Lots of online content here too.
• Electrical Wholesaling: US magazine described as "the independent voice of electrical distribution".
• Electricity Today: Electrical engineering magazine aimed at North American readers.
• Electrical Times: Magazine for UK electricians and contractors. Online content is generally available only to subscribers.
• Electronics Design, Strategy, News: For electronic design engineers.
• Popular Mechanics: Quite a lot of coverage of electrical topics and projects.
• Wire Journal: From the Wire Association International, for the wire and cable industry.

Books

Home electrics

• Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics: By Stan Gibilisco. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. A particularly good introduction for students.
• The Complete Guide to Home Wiring: By Black and Deceker/Thomas G. Lemmer. Creative Publishing International, 2001.
• Wiring a House: By Rex Cauldwell. Taunton Press, 2002.
• Ultimate Guide to Wiring: Complete Projects for the Home: By Editors of Creative Homeowner, Creative Homeowner Press, 2007.
• Basic Wiring & Electric Repair: By Cy Decosse Inc, Black & Decker Home Improvement Library. Random House, 1991.
• Wiring Your Digital Home For Dummies: By Dennis C. Brewer, Paul A. Brewer. For Dummies, 2006.

Electronics

• Electronics for Dummies: By Gordon McComb, Earl Boysen, Inc NetLibrary. For Dummies, 2005.
• Electronics Projects for Dummies: By Earl Boysen, Nancy Muir. For Dummies, 2006.
• Getting Started in Electronics: A Complete Electronics Course in 128 Pages: By M.M. Forrest, Forrest M. Mims. Master Publishing, Incorporated, 2003
• The Art of Electronics : by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. Cambridge University Press, 1989. This is the classic textbook I used as a student. Rather complex for general readers, but great for university students.
• Electrical Engineering 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in School but Probably Didn't: by Darren Ashby. Newnes, 2005.
• Practical Electronics for Inventors: by Paul Scherz. McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics, 2006.
• Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius: By Dave Cutcher. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004.

Stores supplying electrical parts and electronic components

We don't endorse any of these stores and we don't make any money whatsoever out of listing them—we're just adding a few in here for your information and convenience. You can find lots more suppliers by typing "electronic components", "electric parts" (or whatever you're looking for) into the search boxes at the top/bottom of this page.

Worldwide

• RS: Huge global supplier of components.
• Amazon: Good for things like cables, adapters, and home DIY tools, but don't stock smaller and more specialized components.

United States

• 1-Source: Large selection of electronic components.
• Jameco: An electronic components distributor specializing in semiconductors, passives, interconnects, electromechanical, power supplies, LEDs, and more!
• Electrical Tools: Sell a broad selection of electrical meters, testers and analyzers, including home inspection tools, digital multimeters, circuit analyzers, and wire gauges.

UK

• Maplin: A huge selection of electrical and electronic parts and components available online, by mail order, and through a nationwide chain of high-street stores.
• RSH Electronics: UK-based, mail-order supplier of over 1500 components.
• Screwfix: Trade tools, accessories and hardware products.