Identifying House Electric Wiring Colors

The quickest way to identify house electrical wiring is by its color, since you cannot always rely on the markings printed on the rubber coating. To make things a bit easier, you really have only three types of wire to identify: hot, neutral and ground. A number of different colors may be used for the hot wire in various types of switch wiring, while neutral and ground wires should always be the same. If you are engaging in any home wiring, proper identification of wires is imperative so you end up making the right connections. Before you ever work on the wiring of an outlet, light fixture, fan or any appliance, always turn the individual circuit off at the main panel. This will cut power to that particular circuit and prevent electric shock. 

Why Wires are Different Colors

Home electrical wires are different colors so that one can be distinguished from the next. Inside their colorful rubber coating they are consist of copper conduit. The colors simply make it easier for you to keep track of your work. They could conceivably all be the same color, but then you would have to mark each wire individually to tell them apart. The different color coatings do that for you. 

Standard Colors Used for Home Wiring

What follows here is the standard use for wiring of different colors throughout a home. The gauge or size of the wire may change depending on the amps flowing through the circuit, but the color is a consistent feature. 

Black 

The wire that carries the current from the power source to the outlet or receptacle is the hot wire. Whenever you see a black wire, you know it is hot. There are other wires that carry current in more complicated circuits, but black is always hot. 

White

To complete the circuit, the current must return to the power source. It does this through the neutral wire which is always white. In some instances a white wire may be marked with a piece of black electrical tape at the ends. A white wire marked black means it is acting as a hot wire. 

Green or Bare

When you either a green wire or a bare copper wire you can be sure it is a ground wire. A ground wire is used as a protective measure by dispelling any excess charge in a circuit. The ground wire is meant to direct the excess into the earth or ground. 

Red

Red wires are commonly found in 3-wire and a ground or 14/3 (or other size) Romex cable. It is needed for switch wiring. When red is used, it is a carrier of current, meaning it is hot. 

Yellow and Blue

Yellow and blue wires are sometimes used in more complicated circuits. If they are, they are used as hot wires to carry current between switches and poles. For this reason they are also known as travelers. 

Before you begin a wiring project, make sure you understand the basics of wiring and the color arrangement of the circuit. With the power turned off, there is no danger of electrocution, but you could still make a wrong connection somewhere and end up with an incomplete circuit.