Have you ever looked at the colors of electrical wires and wondered what they meant? Many of us may not know or appreciate the importance of these colors. Each electric wire color actually means something as they follow a particular color standard. Understanding these electrical wire color codes is highly important if you must carry out any DIY electrical systems repair in your building.
Also, exercise caution when handling these wires because they may as well be carrying an electric current when you touch them. In this article, we’ve highlighted the many different colors of electrical wires and explained what each of them means.
However, if you`re having trouble identifying and understanding what each electric wire color means, it’s advisable to call in a professional electrician to check out any suspected default in your electrical wiring system. Here are 5 most common electrical wiring color types that you should know:
Red Electrical Wires
Red electrical wires are commonly found in a sheathed, multi-conductor cable. They are similar to black electrical wires in that they can also be used in certain types of switch legs. In 220-volt circuits, for instance, red wires are popularly known as the secondary live wires. In addition, red wires also serve as the interconnection between smoke detectors hard-wired into your home`s power system. You can link two red wires together or a red wire to a black wire.
Black Electrical Wires
This electrical wiring color represents the cable that carries electric current from the power source to your power outlets and switches in all types of circuits. This means that you should handle black electrical wires with caution as they are live at all times.
Black electric wires also serve as switch legs that transfer power to switches and outlets in all circuits. Switch legs are the connection linking a switch to the electrical load.
Blue and Yellow Electrical Wires
You’ll mostly find blue and yellow wires in commercial buildings. They are used as the live wires pulled through a conduit. These electric wire colors carry power, but you won’t find them in typical outlet wiring. Rather, blue and yellow wires are used as the live wires pulled through a conduit. Yellow wires, for instance, serve as switch legs to structural lights, ceiling fans, as well as outlets paired with light switches.
Blue wires, on the other hand, are usually used as travelers for 3- or 4-way switches. A 3-way switch, for instance, is when you have two different switches serving as controls for the same light.
Green Electrical Wires
The purpose of green wires is to ground an electrical circuit. They also provide the path to ground for a circuit’s electric current when a live wire within the circuit interacts with the metal of another material.
Green wires typically connect to the grounding terminal in an outlet box and then run to the ground bus bar in an electrical panel. So green wires act as a failsafe, giving electricity a path for escape into the ground if a live wire within a circuit touches metal or another conductive material. Note also that you can only connect one green wire to another green wire, and they are also live, so handle them with care.
White and Gray Electrical Wires
The last electric wire color on the list is white and gray electric wires. In any electrical wiring system, these two color codes represent the neutral wires. You’ll mostly find white color in use, but it serves the same purpose as the gray wire. The white wires are most commonly found in residential buildings, while gray wires are used in commercial structures.
Remember that the purpose of neutral wires is to connect to the neutral bus bar, which is a conductive piece of metal that attracts electric current for distribution throughout the house. This metal is typically found within an electrical panel.
Just like green electrical wires, you can only connect white and gray electrical wires to one another. Note that they may still carry electric current, even though they`re called neutral wires. This is especially true if the current load in the circuit is unbalanced. And as such, you want to be sure to handle them with caution
Best Electrical Wiring Installation Services in Bellevue, WA
Now that you know the standard electrical wiring color codes, you`ll be able to tell what each color stands for. However, if you are not used to DIY`s in electrical wiring systems, you can give us a call at Merve Electric. We are available round the clock to resolve any electrical wiring issues in your building.
Reach out to us today at 206-590-4060 to get a quote or schedule an appointment with one of our electricians.