Electricity has become an essential need for most homes and needs careful use and installation because of the danger that electrical current also carries with it, if you are careless and misuse it, or have wiring and connections that are not up to the required specifications.

House wiring becomes simple if you understand its fundamental points and follow proper procedures while installing it. It mainly requires attention to its four basic components. The first of these are the power and the mains voltage that is brought into the home from electricity or utility companies or other sources, like a generator, or solar power system, or others. You then need to be sure of the load that your various electricity using devices will impose on the mains. Conductors or wires are then needed to be laid to connect the mains power to the point of usage. Finally you need a system of switches and controls that allow you to operate the connected devices.

Mains power has two paths, one the incoming phase that brings in the power, and the neutral which caries it back and completes the circuit. Higher power consuming devices will require a third path, an earth, that allows leakages to be carried out safely to the ground. This earth connection is not required for lights and fans, but is important for wall sockets that will power appliances, like air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions, microwaves, ovens, ranges, irons, washing machines and other things normally used in homes. An electrical circuit is completed when any point of use has two wires that connects to the power phrase and a neutral that carries it back.

The purpose of house wiring is to connect a load between the two poles that allow the power to flow to the point of load, operate it, and then flow back through the neutral. This will leave the power constantly being available to the device or appliance. This where it becomes necessary to introduce mechanical switches that can interrupt the power, or connect it. Switches have to be connected to the wires that bring in the power. They have to be installed before the load. It is important that all house wiring circuits are connected to the main board that brings in the power. All wiring must have the capability to take the load that it is connected to. Electrical codes specify the sizes and load carrying capacities of wires for various uses. Mains boards must be provided with fuses or circuit breakers that allow the power to be isolated, when repairs are needed to any electrical circuit or switches. They also function to cut of power whenever there is a short circuit or other defect that can be a danger to safety. It is customary, nowadays, to have miniature circuit breakers or MCBs that can interrupt or control the power going through just the particular circuits that it are connected to it. This makes it easier for maintenance and for the identification of faults.

It is important that once any house is completed it be thoroughly tested by an experienced and qualified electrician and wiring contractor with the proper instruments, before it is put to use.