Software
Houzz Logo Print
andrelaplume2

add an outlet

16 years ago

Imagine if you will.....we have an area under our stairway that will be converted for storage. At the far end, at the highest point, extending out about 5 feet is our Heat pump blower, humidifier etc. Recently this heat pump was added and I had them run a new outlet from the breaker box to this area to service a humidfier and a dehumidifer and a Freezer that actually sits a few fgeet away under the stairs. The new outlet is fed by an 'orange' wire.

I want to now box in the heat pump equip area. That will result in a wall separating the equip (where the outlet for the freezer is) from freezer. I'd like to run a new outlet from the current box approx 3 feet away and into this new wall to feed the freezer.

Do I need to run the wire from the current box to the new box thru a pipe to protect it? Other pre-existing outlets in my unfinished basement all drop from the ceiling to an outlet box with the wire inside a 3/4" or so pipe. Interestingly the new 'orange' wire that drops from the ceiling to the recently added outlet is not encapsulated in any pipe...and it passed the inspection.

I just want to do this as safely as possible.

______

...........!__

..............!__

.................!__

.....................!__

....outlet..............!__

...........................!__

..............................!__

Equip. ! Freezer

............

Comments (2)

  • 16 years ago

    I can't tell if you're asking for instructions on how to do this yourself, or just whether it can be done.

    The orange "wire" is most likely Romex 10 gauge cable with the bare ground and hot and neutral insulated wires inside. Whether one needs to protect wiring inside conduit depends on whether the new wiring will be run entirely inside the new wall or not. And, if it's running outside the wall, you need to use a different type of wire inside the conduit than jacketed cable.

    The new wiring you have is for heavier duty circuits, and is not like the rest of the circuits in the basement; in fact, it may be 220V, and that is not something you should be messing with yourself. Also, there are certain requirements that must be met when wiring such circuits or modifying them, and sometimes they must be "dedicated" circuits, which limits what else can be connected to them. It may be better to tap into another circuit to take care of this. Out of concern for your well-being, I have to say that you don't know enough about wiring to do this safely. You can probably get the result you want fairly easily, but I'm not going to provide further details. This needs to be done by a qualified electrician.

  • 16 years ago

    Yes I was just curious if it were a big deal. I have no idea wh the orange wire was used. I know it was run from the wall panel, thru rafters, over near the blower and dropped down the wall 2 feet or so with no condiut into a a boc with 4 outlets. I told them I wanted it to power my freezer as well as they humidifier and dehumidifier. I simply decided to box off the blower and such now and that will result in a wall between the outlet and freezer.

    I thought this might be a simple diy project but will wait for an electrician...until then I'll leave a section of that wall 'drywall less' so I can still get my freezer cord to the outlet!