Electrical

I've got a 200A panel and want to add a 50A circuit for a hot tub about 60 feet away. What wire, what breaker, and what else do I need at the tub?

Quick check: what size copper NM-B do I need for a standard 20A receptacle circuit, and for a 15A lighting circuit?

I'm putting two 12-2 NM cables and one 12-3 NM cable into a box with a single duplex receptacle and internal clamps. How do I figure out what size box I need?

Upgrading a house from 100A to 200A service, meter to main panel run is about 10 feet. What size aluminum service entrance conductors can I use, and what copper if I go that route?

I need to run a 20A 120V circuit 250 feet out to a well house that draws about 16 amps. What wire size so the pump doesn't burn up, and how do you actually run the math?

I'm wiring a 10 HP 230V single-phase motor for a shop compressor. The nameplate says 42 FLA. How do I size the branch circuit conductors and the breaker, and why don't the two match?

Customer's 480V feeder to a rooftop unit keeps tripping the breaker after heavy rain. I want to megger it before I pull new wire. How do I do the test right, and what readings mean it's bad?

Wiring a hallway light with a switch at each end using 14-2 from the panel and 14-3 between the switches. Which wires go where on the 3-ways?

I've been tightening panel lugs by feel for 20 years. An inspector just told me that's not good enough anymore. What's he talking about?

1970s house with aluminum branch-circuit wiring, owner can't afford a rewire but wants it safer. What's the right way to fix the receptacle connections?

Installing a 100A subpanel in the same house 20 feet from the main panel. Do I bond the neutral bar in the subpanel like the main, or not?

New service on a house. I drove one 8-foot ground rod. Do I need a second one?

Homeowner is swapping a gas range for a 12 kW electric range and there's no circuit. What do I run and what receptacle goes in?

I want to run one 12-3 to the kitchen and split it into two 20A countertop circuits sharing the neutral. Anything special at the panel?

How many #12 THHN can I legally pull in 3/4-inch EMT, and how do you figure that if it's a mix of sizes?

I'm pulling four 20A 120V circuits through one 3/4 EMT from a panel to a shop, each circuit with its own neutral, plus one ground, THHN. Do I need to upsize the wire?

Small church wants a 20-amp circuit for a bank of LED sign lights that stays on all night, load is right at 18 amps measured. Is a 20A breaker and #12 fine?

Customer bought a Level 2 EV charger that can be set to 48 amps and wants it hardwired in the garage, 30 feet from the panel. What breaker and wire?

Explain to me like I'm new: what's the actual difference between a GFCI and an AFCI, and why do I need both in a bedroom with a bathroom off it?

I need a 90 on 1/2-inch EMT that lands the stub 12 inches off the floor. Where do I mark it and how do I bend it on a hand bender?

Rough-in on a new house. Which receptacles actually have to be GFCI protected?

How far apart do wall receptacles have to be in a living room, and does a 3-foot wall between two doors need one?

My kitchen plan has a 10-foot island with no cabinets, a peninsula, and 14 linear feet of counter along the wall with the sink in the middle. How many receptacles and circuits under the current code, and what changed recently for the island?

Inspector failed my panel because the water heater is too close in front of it. What are the actual clearance numbers?

I'm in Clay County, Florida. Can a homeowner pull their own permit and replace their own service panel, and can my unlicensed helper do electrical side jobs on his own?

Doing a 200A service change on a house where the main panel is in the garage, meter is on the outside wall. Inspector says I need something outside now. What?

Trenching a 20A GFCI circuit to a shed in Jacksonville, Florida. How deep does it have to be, and do I have to call anyone before I dig?

Pulling a permit for a whole-house rewire in Florida in 2026. Which edition of the NEC does the inspector enforce, and are there receptacle types I have to use?

Handyman wired a customer's hot tub: 6-3 NM-B from a 50A GFCI breaker, ran it out through the wall into 3/4 PVC conduit down into the ground and over to the spa pack, with a non-fused disconnect right next to the tub. He says it's all in conduit so it's protected. What's wrong?

I'm looking at a detached garage a previous electrician fed from the house with 2-2-4 aluminum SER (two hots and a neutral), 60A breaker, 40 feet underground in PVC. The garage panel has the bonding screw installed and no ground rod. Owner wants me to add a couple circuits and sign off. What do I tell him?

Homeowner added a garage circuit himself. Panel is full, so he stuck the new #12 under the same breaker screw as the existing #12 on a 20A Square D Homeline breaker, tightened it down good, and it's been working for a year. Fine to leave?

During the last hurricane my neighbor ran his 7500W portable generator into the house by plugging a cord with two male ends into his dryer receptacle and flipping the main breaker off. He says it works great and wants me to make him a heavier cord. What's the problem?

Finishing a bonus room over a garage. The GC bought a case of cheap 6-inch recessed cans marked 'non-IC' because they were on sale, and the insulator is coming tomorrow to blow R-38 cellulose over the whole ceiling. Anything I should say before then?

Remodel plans show the existing 200A panel staying where it is but the room around it becoming a master bathroom, with a linen closet built against the adjacent wall. Panel stays accessible, cover clears. Architect says no electrical changes needed. What did they miss?

Customer says his kitchen breaker kept tripping when he ran the microwave and toaster together, so his brother-in-law swapped the 15A breaker for a 20A and it hasn't tripped since. The cable on that circuit is 14-2. He's happy. Should he be?

I'm doing a final walkthrough on a new house in a lightning-heavy area. Service is done with two rods, the copper water line is bonded at the panel, and the plumber ran yellow CSST gas line from the meter to the range, water heater, and furnace, with the black iron nipple at the meter bonded with a #6 to the ground bar. Plumber and electrician both say they're done. Are they?

Service call: a #12 neutral in a 10-year-old panel is scorched and the wire nut in the kitchen ceiling box is melted, but neither breaker on that 12-3 ever tripped. The two hots are on a pair of single-pole 20s stacked in slots 3 and 5 on the same side of the panel. Both circuits measure normal voltage. What happened?

Apprentice roughed in an EV charger circuit: 6-2 NM-B from a 60A breaker, 45 feet through the attic, into a hardwired EVSE set to 48A. Wire and breaker are both 'rated 60' per the label on the cable reel. Inspector wants it redone. Why?

Flipper installed a new 4-wire NEMA 14-30 dryer receptacle to 'update' the laundry, but the existing cable in the wall is 10-2 NM with ground from the 1990s. He wired the receptacle with a jumper from the neutral terminal to the ground terminal so the new 4-prong cord would have a neutral. Dryer runs fine. What's wrong with this?

HVAC crew set a new 4-ton condenser. Nameplate says RLA 18.6A compressor, fan FLA 1.5A, Minimum Circuit Ampacity 25, Max Fuse/Breaker 40. The electrician on site says the old 30A breaker and #10 NM to the disconnect are 'more than enough since it only draws 20 amps' and he's leaving it. The old non-fused pull-out disconnect stays too. Is he right?