Asking Your Electrician in Dover about Wire Colors

Opening your electrical panel or removing a light fixture can be an incredibly overwhelming experience. You'll see not only a wide variety of buttons and wires but a myriad of colors as well. It is important, for the safety of both you and your electrician in Dover, to understand exactly what the color coded wires stand for.

Colors and Markings

Take a careful look at the wires you're preparing to work with. Each one will have some sort of stamp on the outside sheath. The stamp will tell your electrician about the size of the wire and the type of work it is meant to be used for. Under the sheath is the color, which also indicates how the wire should be used.

Black and red wires are both used to create hot connections. They're used to send power to outlets, switches, and even things like ceiling fans and smoke detectors.

Yellow wires and blue wires are used to create hot wire connections as well. They are most commonly used to connect three or four-way switches and power appliances like lights, fans, and anything else that uses a switch to control.

Bare copper and green coated wires are used to create grounding connections.

There are, of course, a few exceptions to the rule. White wires, for example, can be used to create a secondary hot wire or to create an additional leg for a three-way switch. If you use a white wire for anything other than a neutral connection, it should be clearly marked with colored electrical tape so that it is not mistaken for something else, causing danger to your electrician.

Not sure your wires are marked properly? Contact your electrician in Dover for help. He'll be able to review your wires, make sure they're in great working order, and check to see if they're marked correctly.