ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Res. Wiring

Looking for a good book on residential wiring looking to refresh my old school ways? Any one out there know of any? I am taking a course in the fall to cover this topic but would like to study up over the summer. Thanks in advance.

In all seriousness, the number-one book to learn from is the NEC. I've learned more from the code than all other resources combined. Experience provides everything else.

There's more in common between "the old days" and the present than there is that's different; again the NEC is the best reference around. The greatest changes have been in hardware.

Check out the NEC Pocket Residential Guide available at this very site (click on 2002 NEC). This commercial message was brought to you by Tiger.

Dave

Kenny,
I'd like to put a plug in for ECN itself, have you checked out the Book Store lately?.
And that goes for anyone else too.

My personal favorite for residential wiring is
"Electrical Wiring, Residential" by Ray C. Mullin, published by Delmar. I used this book for a class I ran when we brought in a bunch if residential electricians.

The updated 2005 edition is available at the ECN Webstore. The book is kind of pricey, but is worth the money IMO.
https://www.electrical-contractor.net/The_Store/Electrical-Residential.htm

Does the new edition come with a CD that includes the NEC too?

Trumpy,
Thanks for the info to be honest it was after a long day that i had posted this post and should have thought to look on the site prior. I just checked out the res. books and for certain will be ordering from the site. Thanks for the info. And to everyone else hello again it been awhile since i've posted, but im back!!!

Kenny (NJ Wireman)

Try Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial and Industrial : Based on the 2005 National Electrical Code
by Frederic P. Hartwell & Herbert P. Richter.
(ISBN 0971977917, Park Publishing)

You can get older versions as well, al;l based off the respective codes in force at the time of printing. It's all to code, and more easily worded than a direct read of the NEC, and covers resi, light commercial, and farm wiring.

There's a "handyman version" called
Wiring Simplified: Based on the 2002 National Electrical Code (40th Edition)
also by H. P. Richter, W. Creighton Schwan, Frederic P. Hartwell. (ISBN: 096032948X - also Park Publishing) It's definitely geared more towards the DIY'er, but it's still good advice, and covers more of the residential applications than Practical does. This is the book my dad used to keep around the house as a quick reference. It explains a lot in plain english.


[This message has been edited by DougW (edited 05-09-2005).]

[This message has been edited by DougW (edited 05-09-2005).]

I haven't done any new construction residential since 1999. And even then, I only did it for about 5 months. I'm getting ready to quit my day job and go full time as an EC, so I'm real close to bidding on my first house. I want to inspire confidence with the GC, so I think I'll look into the 2002 NEC Pocket Residential Guide and Electrical Wiring Residential down at the local bookstore. Since I'm in CA and our 2004 CEC is based on the 2002 NEC, do you think it's a problem getting the latest version (Electrical Wiring Residential) based on the 2005 code?

Thanks for starting this thread NJ Wireman.

Roy