Learn More About Your Electrical Wiring Colors

The system of devices used to conduct electricity is known as electrical wiring. There are several types of electrical wires. The three factors that determine the types of wiring are their use, conductivity, and location. A household uses less electricity than an apartment building.

An electrical wire is made up of specific materials that are suitable for electrical conductivity. Copper is the most popular material. Insulating the conductor of an electrical wire protects it from damage. The use of color coating helps to differentiate between the various types of cables and electric wires. Simply put, a cable that is a certain color is used to accomplish a particular task. These are highlights of the various wiring colors and their meanings.

Red

Red-colored electrical wires are considered live. It indicates the positive side. Also known as hot wires, red electrical wires can also be used. These wires are mostly used in installations that require 220 volts. Red wire can also be used to interconnect other wires. You can use it to connect multiple hardwired smoke detectors.

Green

Green indicates that an electric cable is grounded. The green-colored cable should only be connected with another green cable and not to any other color cable. The green wires connect to an outlet box that leads to the ground terminal. The cable then runs under the ground from the outlet box to a bus bar within an electric board.

A green wire’s primary purpose is to provide a path to ground for an electrical current to a circuit’s connection system in the event that any live wire has come in contact with metal or other conductive items.

Yellow

Transmission of power is the purpose of using yellow electric wires. They are not intended to be used for wiring outlets, especially those of plug-in electrical devices. The majority of yellow cables can be used as switch legs to electrical devices such as fans, structural lightings, or outlets with switches. The switch leg refers to a connection that starts at the switch and ends at the electrical device.

Black

For all circuits, the cable supplying power is usually black. A hot wire is not an electric wire that’s black. A black wire can be used almost always as a neutral or grounding cable.