ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area house wiring

I have a friend who moved to norway, he is looking to change out some fixtures in there home. How ever it does not appear as though they use the same color systems we do for there wire. Anyone know what is what over there?
Crazy also, they run there wires on the outside of the sheetrock! what a concept! we would all be out of work in no time!

Assuming that the wiring isn't too old, it will most likely be the standardized modern system which is used across most of Europe:

Hot = Brown or black
Neutral = Blue
Ground = Green/yellow

I've heard that some parts of Norway use an ungrounded system however, so the blue may actually also be a hot wire in some homes.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 08-24-2004).]

thanks for the info, but if they have a underground system what would be the color of the neutral then?

As I understand it, the homes fed with an ungrounded supply in Norway just have a simple 2-wire service fed from a 220V transformer secondary, so there is no neutral as such. That's a rather different system than is used in most of Europe.

Our friend C-H might be able to elaborate some more, as he's from neighboring Sweden and may have actually seen this system "in the flesh."

thanks i will contiue to keep a eye on this post as maybe others also have some ideas. But thanks for the info its a great start!!!

I've been a bit busy at work and didn't notice this thread until Paul sent me an e-mail.

Both 230/400V with a grounded neutral and 230V ungrounded are in use in Norway. The latter is the old system, but still very common. Expect two or three fuses per circuit.

It doesn't matter to the light fixtures how you wire them, as long as you connect the grounding conductor right.

Don't be surprised if there are only two wires, it is perfectly normal in Scandinavia. No longer legal, but it will take ages before it is phased out.

Kenny is right about the wiring on the outside of walls. In Scandinavia, fishing is something you do in the sea, not in walls. Only wires installed when the house was built will be in the walls.