Amp Nerd https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html Blog A Crowded Gang Box Runs Hotter Than the Sum of Its Devices The Metal Yoke on a Device Is Part of the Ground Path Back-Wired Is Not Backstabbed—The Clamp Makes the Difference Pigtailing Aluminum Wire Needs a Listed Connector, Not a Wire Nut A Wobbling Fixture Usually Means the Box Moved, Not the Screws A Device Set Back Behind Tile Needs an Extender, Not Longer Screws A Buzzing Doorbell Is Usually the Transformer, Not the Button Interconnected Smoke Alarms Share a Signal Wire, Not Power An Exit Sign That Glows Is Not Proof the Battery Works A Closet Light Is About Clearance to Shelves, Not Wattage Home The Space Directly Above a Tub Has Its Own Fixture Rules An LED Does Not Burn Out—It Quietly Gets Dimmer Two Bulbs with the Same Kelvin Number Can Still Look Different Flicker You Cannot See Can Still Freeze a Spinning Blade Not Every LED Driver Dims the Same Way—Protocols Differ Sizing a Landscape Transformer to the Exact Wattage Is a Mistake Dim Landscape Lights at the End of the Run Are a Voltage Problem The Weak Link in Under-Cabinet Lighting Is the Driver Location A Track Lighting Run Has a Load Limit Set by the Track The Fixture Label Can Demand a Hotter-Rated Supply Wire Fixture Wire Is Rated for Heat, Not for Running Through Walls An LED Retrofit Kit Does Not Erase the Old Can’s Rating A Recessed Light Blinking On and Off Is Often Its Thermal Cutout An IC Rating Is About Insulation Contact, Not Bulb Brightness A Fan-Rated Box Carries a Marked Weight Limit You Can Exceed A Dimmer Is Not a Fan Speed Control—The Load Behaves Differently A Timer Switch Rated in Watts Can Still Fail on Inrush A Dusk-to-Dawn Photocell Reads Light, Not the Clock An Occupancy Sensor and a Vacancy Sensor Are Not the Same Switch Ganging Dimmers Together Costs You Wattage You Already Paid For Too Few LED Bulbs Can Leave a Dimmer Below Its Minimum Load A Dimmer Compatibility List Is Test Data, Not Marketing A Bypass Module Is the Fix for a Switch Box with No Neutral A White Wire at a Switch Is Not Automatically a Neutral A Four-Way Switch Belongs in the Middle, Never at the End The Odd Screw on a Three-Way Switch Is the Common, Not a Traveler Half of That Outlet Is Dead Because Someone Broke a Tab Counter Receptacle Spacing Is Built Around Cord Length Putting a 20-Amp Outlet on a 15-Amp Circuit Changes Nothing A USB Receptacle Ages Faster Than the Outlet Around It A Flip-Up Outlet Cover Is Not Weatherproof with a Cord in It Weather-Resistant and Weatherproof Are Two Different Claims A GFCI That Refuses to Reset Is Usually Doing Its Job Line and Load on a GFCI Are Not Interchangeable Terminals A GFCI Can Protect an Ungrounded Outlet Without Grounding It Swapping a Two-Prong Outlet for Three Does Not Add a Ground A Self-Grounding Receptacle Still Needs a Grounded Box A Plug That Sags Out of the Wall Is a Failed Receptacle