Reverse polarity / reverse wiring

You may encounter talk about reversed wired outlets or lights. This could come during a home inspection, appliance repair, or after getting a shock from touching a lamp or appliance. Wiring is generally connected so that the 'hot' or 'live' wire is less likely to come in contact with other items. The live wire should not appear on the outside shell of a fixture or bulb, the fixture should not have power when it is turned off at the switch and appliances plugged into polarized and/or grounded outlets should have the power on the live portion. To ensure this, there is a wiring standard for appliances, lights, switches and outlets. If house wires, fixtures wires, etc. are connected incorrectly, you could have a shock hazard waiting to happen. The wiring problem may not even be at the outlet which is testing as faulty. The safest solution is to contact us. Most likely, we'll be scheduling a time to come out and correct the problem.

Helpful Hint: Hardware stores sell a simple plug-in tester that will tell you if the outlet is grounded and wired correctly.