Aug 192013
 

Wiring a House 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated (For Pros By Pros)

Wiring a House 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated (For Pros By Pros)

 Since it was first published in 1996, Wiring a House has become the standard reference on residential
wiring. Updated to the latest National Electrical Code, this fourth edition features revised information on backup generators, AFCIs, GFCIs, tools, and room-by-room wiring. An indispensable reference for keeping pros up to date, Wiring a House also gives apprentices and homeowners the most current and accurate information in the most accessible form. 

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The Standard Electrical Dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice of Electrical Engineering

The Standard Electrical Dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice of Electrical Engineering

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

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  6 Responses to “Wiring a House 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated (For Pros By Pros)”

  1. 132 of 135 people found the following review helpful
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Goes beyond the basics, but has some gaps, November 21, 2004
    By 
    C. MacPhail (Solana Beach, CA USA) –
    (VINE VOICE)
      
    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)
      
    (REAL NAME)
      

    I am a homeowner who has done dozens of minor and major electrical projects over the last 20 years.

    This book is full of practical tips and details I have not seen in the basic books. I wish I had read it years ago.

    Not the best starter book, it’s for those who want to go beyond the starter books.

    Cauldwell has and conveys a deep understanding of the electrician’s work. His many insights and “Above Code” sidebars help you do a better job than your $90-an-hour electrician would do.

    Heavy emphasis on mechanical tips…fishing, drilling, etc. which is usually the most challenging part.

    Excellent photos and illustrations.

    I don’t give it 5 stars because there’s too much missing. How many conductors are permitted in size X conduit? What gauge wire do I need for 50 amp service? What if it’s a long 100+ ft. run? Can the ground wire be a smaller gauge? The book desparately needs reference tables for this kind of stuff.

    There are no tips for pulling wire through conduit, bending PVC conduit, or outdoor wiring in general.

    Too bad, because in many respects this a masterpiece.

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  2. 67 of 69 people found the following review helpful
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Good for the guy who is doing his own home wiring, March 3, 2003
    By 
    Dewit Yerselfer “The goal is to be fair” (Groton, CT United States) –

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

    I’m building my own house. I am a former industrial electrical engineer (I’ve moved on to other things). The problem with being an engineer is that I know the big picture, (I can spec a panel and size the service entrance cables in a heartbeat, I used to know the NEC like the back of my hand). The problem that I run into is figuring out the way the guys who install the stuff I spec make what I spec meet code and do it quickly and easily.

    This book will show you how the guys who do installations every day do them.

    If you understand basic electricity, this book will be a good guide to help you do an installation that will make your inspector happy.

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  3. 182 of 198 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Comparison of 3 how-to books on home wiring, December 18, 2002
    By 
    Atheen M. Wilson “Atheen” (Mpls, MN United States) –
    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
      
    (REAL NAME)
      

    I’ve decided to remodel my spare bedroom. It’s one of those “furnished closet” type spaces that tends to collect junk at an alarming rate. While it’s a lovely little room when it’s empty, it disappears in the furniture that gets put into it. Even the sliding glass doors over the small balcony don`t give one an illusion of spaceousness. I had a roommate for a while who used that room, and she had to climb over her bed just to get to her bureau.

    The plan is to put up lighted crown molding to add dimension and indirect lighting to the room and to remodel the ample closet space into a bureau cum mini-closet cum desk area. By putting in a full sized futon, I can use the room as a sitting room/spare bedroom, and without the clutter, it’ll seem quite spacious.

    To accomplish my goal, the project required some rewiring of the room, so I found three books that seemed to have the information I needed: Wiring 1-2-3 by the people at Home Depot, The Complete Guide to Home Wiring by the Black and Decker people, and Wiring a House by Rex Cauldwell. Each is an excellent book with much to offer, but I definitely found that each had a slant that made it specialized in some way.

    Of the three books, only the Cauldwell book was written in a person-to-person format. The author is a third generation electrician with years of experience, and as he says quite charmingly, “I have written this book from lifelong experience and knowledge–some of which has been passed down through each generation. However, there is no one within my family to pass the gauntlet to–no fourth generation to pick up the trade. Therefore, by reading this book you will become heir to my knowledge and experience. You, in effect, will become the fourth generation (p. 1).” His style is very much master of the craft to learning apprentice, explaining all facets of his field from how electricity is produced, how it is measured, what types of wires carry it to and into your home, and what tools one needs to do electrical work. He not only provides the information, he tells the reader the “whys” of what is, which I find helpful because it permits one to problem solve and trouble shoot more effectively. Particularly useful are those things that he tells the reader to avoid and what can happen when they aren’t! The drawings are very helpful, particularly as they are clearer than photographs can be. Sometimes less is more in this regard. The schematic of the main floor of a house (pp. 22-23) which detailed how wiring is arranged for each room was quite helpful for my project, since it described what I should (and did) find in the walls when locating my power source and routing new wiring. I also found that the information on materials to select was helpful. I was able to go to the store and pick out just what I needed without any trouble at all.

    While the Cauldwell book is a good one to read from cover to cover because of it’s clear and thorough discussion of electronical wiring and its many helpful hints (which I did), it really did not help with my specific plans. It does cover some types of project, but I found that The Black and Decker book was more useful for my specific wiring goals. It’s definitely a “how to do it” book with information on trouble shooting current wiring for potential problems (pp. 122-143), on code requirements (pp. 145-146), on how to calculate electrical loads and when to upgrade. It also includes simple repairs for the home owner, everything from checking which fuse controls which part of the house, to replacing plugs and repairing fluorescent lights. It also provides some advanced projects, like rewiring a kitchen or installing outdoor wiring. Of particular interest to my husband, the computer guru in our household, was the information on the home network wiring systems.

    For my own project, I found the circuit maps for 26 common wiring layouts of greatest help. With the aid of this feature and the Cauldwell book, I was able to draw on paper the likely arrangement of the present wiring in my spare bedroom, and plan in the pathway to and from the projected new outlets. The diagrams on pages 155-167 also gave me a clearer idea of which wires connected to which specific sites on the receptacles, and what the pathway of the current would be. I was thrilled when I turned on the wall switch in the room, and the lighted crown molding actually came on, first try!

    Wiring 1-2-3 is another group-effort type book like the Black and Decker. It’d made a splendid gift for the new home owner or prospective buyer. It provides the most extensive information on inspecting the home for electrical problems and providing measures for repairing them. The table of contents highlights almost every conceivable project, and each project has a list of materials, a skill scale that projects the level of difficulty to expect, and the amount of time that would be required by the experienced, the handy and the novice. It…

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  4. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
    2.0 out of 5 stars
    Surprised by the Quality, March 6, 2013
    By 
    Mai Vyou (Baltimore, MD USA) –

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: The Standard Electrical Dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice of Electrical Engineering (Kindle Edition)

    I have a Keyboard Kindle. I notice several reviews think this is pretty good. I found it lacking in several areas: 1. Diagrams referred to in the text are missing; 2. The text format has the appearance of lines formatted for a wider screen so line “wrap” with partial and full lines alternating; 3. Definitions tend to be jammed together giving a jumbled app0earance to the different entries.

    In books explaining concepts and machines, the lack of diagrams to accompany textual descriptions I consider a serious flaw. Fortunately, Gutenberg.org has many of these type books WITH the diagrams. I highly recommend checking with them to see if they have what you want.

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  5. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Everything you’ll need, February 15, 2013
    By 

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: The Standard Electrical Dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice of Electrical Engineering (Kindle Edition)

    Exactly as stated, nothing is really missing from this book that I could think of. I like having it on my phone so I can manually search for words.

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  6. 1.0 out of 5 stars
    Dictionary review, April 7, 2013
    By 

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: The Standard Electrical Dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice of Electrical Engineering (Kindle Edition)

    It’s okay but science I haven’t I don’t know what it’s like I would recommend this to my teacher at school

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