How to Add Additional Electrical Circuits

Adding an electrical circuit is risky to do by oneself without the aid of a licensed electrician. Meddling with electricity can be very dangerous if not handled correctly. It can be accomplished by being careful and patient. Acquire the needed tools and components and follow instructions closely.

• 1

  Turn the electric panel main breaker off to cut power from the panel. This will disable the power feed to the house, so use a flashlight or battery-powered lamp to see. Be advised that even though the power is turned off, there are metal strips in the panel that can maintain an electrical charge.

• 2

  Press a new hole through the electric panel. There are metal perforated circles along each side of the electric panel. They can be popped out with force.

• 3

  Run around two feet of the heavy electric cable through the newly formed hole.

• 4

  Use the clamp to securely attach the cable to the electric panel where the hole was formed.

• 5

  Skin the cable coating off the wires so that the three wires (neutral, live and ground) are free to be individually attached.

• 6

  Attach the ground wire to the ground bus bar. There will be a strip with a line of screws where all the ground wires are securely attached. Snake the ground wire through the hole and tighten it securely using a screwdriver. Note that more than one ground wire can be hooked to each individual screw.

• 7

  Attach the neutral (white) wire to the neutral bus bar. Use the wire stripper to pull a centimeter or so of the wire coating off so that the copper wire is exposed. Snake the exposed section through a free hole on the neutral bus bar. Tighten the screw down with the screwdriver. Note that only one neutral wire can be attached with each individual screw.

• 8

  Strip the hot (black) wire in the same fashion as the neutral wire. Attach the hot wire to the new circuit breaker.

• 9

  Snap the new circuit breaker into an available slot of the electric panel.