Electrical wiring is something that requires foresight, planning, and a degree of knowledge. Going to electrical wiring without these tools at your disposal can have some pretty scary consequences! Electricity is not something to be trifled with at random. – Having said that, it’s not something you necessarily need to fear either.

Various codes and rules exist to make electrical wiring as easy and safe as possible. – for both professionals and beginners. Aside from various electrical wiring manuals, the first and foremost tool at your disposal is the color code that has been established to help differentiate the various wires. These colors will often vary by region, so you’ll need to find out which one is for your area.

There are some fundamental differences between the color code in Europe and that of the Western Hemisphere.such as Canada and the United States. These regions aren’t the only places where variations exist, but I’ll assume that most of you reading this article are from these areas. Confirm all color codes with a second local professional source before beginning construction.

Standard electrical color code in most of Europe (IEC – International Electrotechnical Commission)

• Soil or Earth: green-yellow.
• Neutral: blue.
• Hot: brown, black and gray for three-phase. The single phase is brown.

Standard electrical color code in the US and Canada

• Soil or Earth: bare, green or green-yellow.
• Neutral: white.
• Hot: black, red and blue, for three-phase. The single phase is black and red if there is a second active.

Once the power has reached your breaker, it is usually split throughout your house. to your various wall outlets, lights, and appliances. This is where you will probably benefit from knowing the color code, as you will know which one is attractive, which one is neutral, etc. As you can see from the data above, the “color trend” for electrical wiring seems to be black or brown for hot and white or blue for neutral.

Again, you should get confirmation for your particular country and region just in case! Another way to find out is to go to your circuit breaker and examine where the individual wires come out of. If there’s a label that says what’s hot and what’s neutral, this will serve as proof. And yet another way is to pull a light switch off the wall (temporarily) and see what color wire is being “switched”.

If your house has been wired correctly, the live wire should go through the switch, with the neutral bypassing the switch and going directly to the lamp. If any of these checks result in conflicting patterns, you should probably contact a local certified electrician to explain the situation and seek advice. There is a possibility that the previous owner may have tampered with it on their own.