How To Install a New Basement Circuit | Ask This Old House

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In this video, This Old House master electrician Heath Eastman solves a homeowner’s breaker problem by installing a new basement circuit.
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Master electrician Heath Eastman takes us on a house call to help solve a problem with a tripping breaker. Heath investigates and finds that the circuit has undersized wiring and power cords, and should be on its own breaker. He then installs a new 20-amp breaker and outlet in the basement to solve the issue.
If there are appliances in the basement tripping breakers throughout the rest of the home, there might be an issue with circuits. And the solution might be to install a new breaker, wiring, and outlets. Here’s how to do that.
Where to find it?
Heath identifies why a homeowner’s breaker trips when the dehumidifier is running. After, Heath installs a new basement circuit into the receptacle.
Heath uses an electrical outlet tester [amzn.to/3CqDsky] to see if the existing outlet has ground going to it.
Heath uses a drill [amzn.to/3qC43J1] and pilot drill bit to create a pilot hole in the stone foundation. He then installs a new work metal electrical box [amzn.to/42zAO6O] using screws [amzn.to/3X0fLcm]. Heath then uses a cordless jigsaw [amzn.to/3CpBQHW] and 1/2-inch offset bender for the conduit pipe.
Heath then runs a 12-gauge wire [amzn.to/3CrIf5r] from the new electrical box over to the electrical panel. He secures the wire to the joists overhead using a crown stapler [amzn.to/43GArc8] and electrical staples [amzn.to/3oQZlql].
Heath replaces one of the fillers on the circuit breaker with an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breaker [amzn.to/3qF1rdl], which is now required by code in Massachusetts whenever a receptacle is replaced.
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Materials:
Junction box [amzn.to/42zAO6O]
Masonry screws [amzn.to/3X0fLcm]
Cable clamps [amzn.to/3CsUyhU]
1x6, 1x8, or 1x10 pine boards [homedepot.sjv.io/5gAVdn]
1 ½ inch wood screws [homedepot.sjv.io/xky7KO]
Wire staples [amzn.to/3oQZlql]
20-amp outlet [homedepot.sjv.io/rQG7KB]
12/2 wire [amzn.to/3CrIf5r]
20-amp GFCI breaker [amzn.to/3qF1rdl]
Electrical tape [homedepot.sjv.io/an50oQ]
Tools:
Voltage tester (pen tester) [amzn.to/3CqDsky]
Screwdrivers [amzn.to/45ZW1d7]
Hammer drill and bits [amzn.to/3qC43J1]
Wire strippers [amzn.to/3NwqBDK]
Jigsaw [amzn.to/3CpBQHW]
Staple gun [amzn.to/43GArc8]
Plus, download our FREE app for full-episode streaming to your connected TV, phone or tablet: www.thisoldhouse.com/pages/st...
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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment-your home.
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How To Install a New Basement Circuit | Ask This Old House
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Опубликовано:

16 июн 2023

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Комментарии : 135

@Mr-Chris Год назад

I would like to see a video that shows breaking down several rooms that are all tied into an overloaded breaker. Mapping out the circuit, breaking and capping off the daisy chain in strategic areas, adding a new breaker, running/fishing new wire to those rooms. Example I had 4 bedrooms all tied into one 15 amp breaker. An electrician came in and broke down each room to run on their own dedicated 15 amp. He added 3 new breakers, fished wires from the breaker box all the way through either the attic or from below to strategic areas. I thought it was cool, but wish I could have seen how it was done.

@Greenredfield Год назад

Not that difficult, just labor intensive. Running new wire the most challenging part.

@DordiHOTS 8 месяцев назад

that's not a very common issue, it would never pass code in the first place, 4 rooms all tied to one 15 amp breaker? lol

@jsiebs 8 месяцев назад

@@DordiHOTSYou’d be surprised. Not uncommon in older homes.

@OGCJ10 8 месяцев назад

How much did you pay for something like that?

@somewhatboxes 8 месяцев назад

maybe the single most impressive part of this video is the how heath successfully ignores all the other random stuff that people here got fixated on, and actually focused on fixing the problem the homeowner asked for help with in the first place.

@danielmcardle3476 4 месяца назад

I like this electrician. Best of all, he does not ask for payment!

@Lawman212 Год назад

My god, what a clean basement.

@stevepettersen3283 Год назад

Everything on TOH/ATOH is unbelievably clean. Who wants to be embarrassed on national TV? The houses under construction you would rarely see that IRL.

@vapeurdepisse 11 месяцев назад

Some of us like a clean basement...

@Bremend 10 месяцев назад

@vapeurdepisse well then what's the basement for?

@natersalad889 Год назад

Im so glad our kitchen has 3x 20 amp outlets on the backsplash of the kitchen, and theyre all on their own circuits. Our last house has this similiar problem of running our coffee maker would trip the gfci if a space heater was plugged in the kitchen wall outlet too and running

@patty109109 5 месяцев назад

You run a space heater in the kitchen

@jimb8601 Год назад

Let’s montage past the technical and most useful stuff people should see.

@peter-hr1gl Год назад

shows how easy it is IF you have panel access and access to route wires effectively. If you have an external panel and require conduit running up a wall and then into an attic in order to put in a new circuit, it's a total PIA and cluster (often requiring an electrician or possibly a permit depending on locality). Loved a former home where I could do this myself, but no more.

@javiergalvan2604 Год назад

Another great video guys 🎉😊

@cheeseisgreat24 Год назад

I’ve done this myself so many times in my old home, I’ve run probably 6-7 brand new circuits and re-run several of the old ones to update the wiring so I can stop having breakers trip. I still have several more to do, because the person who sold us the home had it updated to be **just barely** code-compliant, but I didn’t make it a sticking point on the sale because I knew I could update them all myself, and then I could have them be how I wanted them to be.

@Bremend 10 месяцев назад

My house had a mix of 2 wire duplex outlets instead of outlets with a ground, but the house was sold as is. There were ground wires in each of the boxes. I don't know why they didn't just use duplex with ground outlets, but it was easy to fix...

@mitchcohn1800 Год назад

Love this channel 👍

@ja8898 Год назад

I would have liked to see the additional circuit breaker added and wiring up the breaker in the box too.

@robertbamford8266 Год назад

Ditto. That was a “Wait! What?” moment. It is what I have the least confidence in my ability to avoid disaster.

@davidmatke248 Год назад

They never show the good stuff...

@hathawaydj1 Год назад

There's quite a few good videos out there that show this...

@ja8898 Год назад

@hathawaydj1 yeah, I've replaced my whole panel. But the video is called how to install a new circuit, and the breaker is part of that circuit.

@hathawaydj1 Год назад

@@ja8898 true enough

@owenmercer5443 Год назад

That is the best lit basement I have ever seen'

@iuyozx Год назад

He undid a Clark Griswold wire job.

@walterulasinksi7031 Год назад

With all due respect, I would have also separated all the outlets and the lighting circuit into individual circuits, thus forever creating a safe situation as people forget and can still place a heavy draw appliance creating an overload on the original circuitry.

@csimet Год назад

0:05... I spit my coffee out. No way the cage is unlocked in the wire isle these days with the cost of copper. It takes 30 minutes to find someone who has the key.

@DoEverythingDerek Год назад

I must live in a good area they don’t lock up anything lol

@jackmyhre8759 10 месяцев назад

I noticed that to. And at Lowe’s I noticed that the combination on the locks is just the store number which can be found on the website or some ads in the store. If no one’s around I just unlock the cage grab my romex and checkout. Same for the whole wire you can buy by the foot. The machines passcode is also the store number. Saves me a LOT of time instead of having to find someone.

@mikehouser5430 Год назад

Plenty of Room in that box panel

@stenbak88 5 месяцев назад

Electricians always want to tell the customer where things should go rather than making the power work the way the homeowner needs

@josephgdraper Год назад

Did I miss a step where you added GFIC to the kitchen outlets?

@VOLTRONDEFENDER4440 Месяц назад

The plug tester can’t trip the Gfci if theirs no ground as it puts hot to ground!

@semlohde1 Год назад

Why can't I find an electrician who will find this stuff out and tell me!! This is a fun video, and informative. I just found my attic fan is dead, I want to add a on/off switch to it instead of just it's thermostat. Oh I do not like electricity, I always screw up and it bites me. I swear, oh yes I do, I put a meter on the wires and showed no juice. I unwound some electrical tape, touched something and it all but blew me off the ladder. Enjoyed your video..

@tonymanero5544 Год назад

Did you determine which circuit was fan was connected or plugged in to?, and then turned off the circuit. You avoided getting killed. It was that dangerous.

@Mawyman2316 11 месяцев назад

You need a non-contact voltage tester, don't do meter testing for voltage, and ensure your circuit is actually off. If you have something else on the branch, plug a small light or a radio into it, so you can hear and or see it turn off, then sniff it out with the non contact, the guy above is correct you could have died.

@JohnnySmoove Год назад

OMG THANK YOU FOR A NEW UPLOAD

@jrpritchard1622 Год назад

hey heath what brand of torque screwdriver did ya uses on the breaker install where can one them

@inthedarkwoods2022 5 месяцев назад

She needed them safety glasses to unplug that extension cord.

@gilbertramirez4294 Год назад

How do you replace the LED if it goes out? it's not like a light bulb replacement. Do i have to buy a whole new unit?

@dgre334 Год назад

In our area, the sump pump must be on a dedicated circuit. In appears the dehumidifier is going to continue to share this new circuit

@tycox8704 Год назад

A dehumidifier isn’t an essential appliance like a sump pump. An inactive sump pump could allow flooding. An inactive dehumidifier would only allow the air to be muggy.

@dgre334 Год назад

@@tycox8704 I agree completely. I was only commenting that our code calls out a dedicated circuit for a sump pump to avoid any overload due to sharing with any other device.

@hugoramirez4740 Год назад

That was an easy one ahh.

@kalijasin 7 месяцев назад

Its being overloaded. Toaster oven and dehumidifier should be on their own separate circuits.

@jackspencer8290 Год назад

This video makes me appreciate living in an area where the code requires wire-in-conduit instead of nm cable. Much safer and more robust.

@Egleu1 Год назад

He put the circuit in conduit.

@jackspencer8290 Год назад

@@Egleu1 I’m talking about fastening nm cable to a board vs. running wire inside a conduit (ems raceway to be technical about it). I’ll take the latter.

@Egleu1 Год назад

@@jackspencer8290 if you're going to get technical at least use the right term. It's EMT not ems.

@jackspencer8290 Год назад

@@Egleu1 Yes, sir!

@Egleu1 Год назад

@@jackspencer8290 don't flatter yourself.

@nighthawkj30A4 Год назад

The Old house i used to live it was like this except it was a dryer. Would stop working.

@ntsecrets Год назад

Assuming he used a gfci or afci breaker - didn’t mention how he addressed that.

@rupe53 Год назад

at roughly 6:10 you can see a new breaker with the reset / trip button.

@adamortega3620 Год назад

I would put a 90° turn on the top of the conduit. Put a threaded conduit connector, threaded coupling and an nm connector. I would strip the nm cable after the connector and run it bare down the conduit.

@Egleu1 Год назад

why?

@adamortega3620 Год назад

@@Egleu1 to avoid running wire with any type of sheathing in conduit.

@morlamweb Год назад

@@adamortega3620 code allows for short runs of NM cable in a conduit. why go through all of that extra work and expense for nothing?

@bnasty267 Год назад

You can't strip NM and use the individual conductors without the jacket like that. Now, we all know those are just solid THHN wires inside NM, but they aren't labeled for that use, thus it's against code. Just leave it in the outer jacket - the few feet you're allowed to run cable in a conduit like this isn't going to be a problem for heat/fill.

@TR-ut3yh Год назад

Code states that the NM jacket shall extend into the box all the way through the conduit

@John-ws6nj Год назад

What tool is that that made the off-set on the conduit?

@adammorgan9304 Год назад

Greenlee offset bender

@michaelbaumgardner2530 Год назад

A day in the life of an electrician

@billyfran1 Год назад

Not enough info on electrical box changes. Otherwise !

@evanallen5377 Год назад

Hanging things right on a wire? Well, who would ever.... Me, I've done that

@johnsmith-sw7ii Год назад

Romex inside a metal conduit is illegal!!! Could have run Romex to a junction box and then single wires down to the receptacle box>

@rupe53 Год назад

code allows for short runs of NM in EMT for protection. From the rafters down is considered a short run.

@teeing9355 Год назад

Code says you can run Romex in Conduit, as long as it's not in a damp location (ie underground or outside).

@moosepasshippie Год назад

NEC 334.15 (B) Cable shall be protected from physical damage where necessary by rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, electrical metallic tubing, Schedule 80 PVC conduit, RTRC marked with the suffix -XW, or other approved means. Where passing through a floor, the cable shall be enclosed in rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, electrical metallic tubing, Schedule 80 PVC conduit, RTRC marked with the suffix -XW, or other approved means extending at least 6 inches above the floor. Conduit or tubing shall be provided with a bushing or adapter that provides protection from abrasion at the point the cable enters and exits the raceway.

@mikemacdonald2032 7 месяцев назад

Funny how this same guy just used a 3' long piece of 1/2" conduit as a sleeve in another video. Cant use nmd in conduit...just run bx if you want protection and be code compliance

@mwkp38 Год назад

Rather than shifting the coffee machine, and putting it where the customer doesn’t want it, I’d prefer to see the two sockets swapped in the joint boxes below?

@Christoph-sd3zi Год назад

Who is this guy?

@michaeljavert4635 Год назад

I saw this on PBS. So first thing... It doesn't matter if there is a GFCI or not. With no ground in the 2 conductor asbestos (silver) coated wire, there is no ground protection, so even if a GFCI was present, if not grounded, it would not work with that tester. Second thing I noticed is you drilled holes in her stones. It would have been better to go into the wood part under the stairs. Also, in a basement, a GFCI should be used per NEC. I didn't see that the breakers are GF or AF CI so I was confused by that. It also appeared from what could be observed that there wasn't a GFCI present on any of the kitchen outlets either. Per NEC GFCIS are required in kitchens, bathrooms, basements, garages, porches, outdoors, and wet areas. Only a refrigerator, at least in my area are permitted to not have a GFCI.

@alexknight7191 Год назад

If you look at 6:10, you can see the reset button on the breaker. So it is either GFCI or AFCI. As for a GFCI outlet on old, ungrounded wire, I thought you could add a one as a stopgap on an ungrounded run, so long as you put the "No equipment ground" sticker on it.

@rupe53 Год назад

@@alexknight7191 ... right, you can install a GFCI on a 2 wire, but that tester won't trip it.

@michaeljavert4635 Год назад

@@alexknight7191 You can satisfy code with a "NO Ground" sticker on a GFCI outlet in most places, but it also looks like he did a new home run with 12 / 2 with ground. So in that case, no sticker would be needed but still GFCI must be used. I didn't see a button but since he seems like a good electrician I'll take your word for it. Just wish they made that more clear in the episode. While my eyes fail on the small details I catch the glaring ones.

@rupe53 Год назад

They must have just moved in (no clutter) and based on fairly new looking kitchen; I'm guessing she bought from a flipper who did everything else on the cheap.

@tycox8704 Год назад

They? Most likely a single female. That would explain why the basement isn’t cluttered, and why she consulted This Old House for a simple electrical problem.

@rupe53 Год назад

@@tycox8704 ... hey, just like in reality TV, some of this is staged in advance to make an acceptable TV show. For all we know, the people are actors and not the owners. BTW, if you are familiar with the original TOH, the home was owned by the producer of the show.

@ccadama Год назад

For a electrician, I'm surprised that Heath didn't unplug those cords by holding the plugs instead of yanking the cords. Sets bad example.

@ThatToast Год назад

The only way i ever unplug anything is by pulling the cord, never has hurt anything

@c0mputer Год назад

@@ThatToast I usually grab the entire appliance, hold onto it and run away from the outlet and yank it all off.

@HaploBartow Год назад

@@c0mputer I knock the wall down instead so the receptacle box falls away from the appliance, pulling the plug out of the outlet

@eddysecco166 Год назад

When plugging a cord into a socket, why is it necessary to wear eye protection?

@rupe53 Год назад

It's not, but he started off drilling into concrete... and working overhead where dust can fall from the old joists.

@ryk3899 Год назад

This Old House Theasauraus..... "Allllright" "Sounds great" "Go ahead" "Makes sense" And such n such

@djamelhamdia134 Год назад

That was actually funny!

@mae2759 Год назад

Lol! Don't forget Richard saying "full city water pressure".

@johnstraley9057 Год назад

"Sounds good"

@jackmyhre8759 10 месяцев назад

@@mae2759and “Self sealing membrane” - Tommy.

@jongreen9250 9 месяцев назад

That's amazing, he didn't have to wait around for an hour to have the cage unlocked to get the wire.

@dtaposse8858 11 месяцев назад

U gotta link to the bender

@Guardducks Год назад

Johnny 5 over load. Johnny 5 need bigger wire.

@the_hood_cat_5553 10 месяцев назад

That looks like asbestos wiring ???

@jej3451 Год назад

00:06 It's sad that they had to cover up the prices and open a locked gate before Heath could make a video of buying romex.

@Jacobwashere77 Год назад

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

@SomeDudeQC Месяц назад

They got married

@liskaerik Год назад

Good video but the description doesn't match what is happening. "In this video, This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey installs a reserve tank so a homeowner can finally fill their tub with hot water for a relaxing bath."

@xploration1437 Год назад

It was probably in the whole episode.

@liskaerik Год назад

True :P

@Its_crazyadamla Год назад

That will be $7,000 😮

@mattbartolovich8228 Год назад

7,000?

@jackspencer8290 Год назад

Lol. True.

@mattbartolovich8228 Год назад

@@jackspencer8290 after I saw it however I realized

@HaploBartow Год назад

Yeah, because he grabbed a 250ft run of 12-2 wire when a 25ft run would have done fine.

@seabass3104 Год назад

No one lives in that old house…..

@jamedlock83 Год назад

Anyone know if this woman is single? She's absolutely gorgeous!

@CornThaddieusThy3rd Год назад

bro shes just asking for her house to burn down. Thank goodness for circuit breakers.

@saeedsobhani1981 Год назад

After all years of studying complex circuits analysis, complex mathematics and physics, all the electricians has to do is running some wires in the walls and make some connections? I never fully understood school 😮

@ianbutler1983 Год назад

You think people learning the electrical trade are doing complex mathematics and physics? They are not. They have no need of those things.

@adamortega3620 Год назад

Complex math and physics in school is for electrical engineers. Electricians learn basic math and physics.

@eyehear10 Год назад

Happy to see you wrap the receptacle with electrical tape. Now make a video convincing these curmudgeons

@eyehear10 Год назад

@@Kevin-mp5of so you’d fire Heath

@xploration1437 Год назад

Meow

@xploration1437 Год назад

@@Kevin-mp5of 🐈💨

@Greenredfield Год назад

He did a fine job helping her. But I feel bad this lady doesn't have a husband who can take care of this for her. Either by identifying and solving the issue, or dealing with contractors. You can see she really had no idea. Also, maybe go above and beyond and install a second basement outlet on that same fresh circuit on another wall.