I feel like I now have a ton of progress to catch up blogging about! Bruce has been very busy the last couple of months, with occasional help from both of our Dads. I will say that I am stoked about progress and should have plenty to blog about for awhile!
As we continued our work on the kitchen, we decided to upgrade one of the kitchen circuits with thicker wire so that it could handle the possible need for a dual electric oven, should we decide in the future to replace the gas oven with another electric oven. Basically, we replaced the thick orange wire with an even thicker black wire, and put in a bigger appliance outlet with a higher amperage rating. We also ran a circuit in the garage for the natural gas pump we intend to install.
Bruce had to swap wires out in the breaker panel and put in a new breaker.
As we removed the orange wire, we threaded the black on in it's place:
This may look like a mess, but I promise it's not! we ran the black wire in sections and then pulled out the orange from each section afterwards.
This part was going to be tricky! We had to dig through the foam insulation the first time we ran the circuit, and threading a thicker wire through the foam, a right angle turn, and down through a little hole in the beam was going to be difficult.
We recycled the orange wire by using it for the circuit we were running for the gas filling station we plan on putting in. We hope to eventually get a bi-fuel vehicle that can run off natural gas. This way, we fill up at home and save on gas costs. Plus natural gas in a clean and abundant source of energy. Anyway, back to the house.
Louie found a corner to hide in until we started moving things out of the way. He still tried to stay invisible.
Scooter, on the other hand, was "helping" as usual!
Threading the wires through the beams and foam insulation is never easy!
I got to uncoil the rest of the black wire so it wouldn't try to curl up as we threaded it through. It was going to be hard enough as it is!
Louie found a new hiding place...
While Bruce was moving on with the gas pump outlet.
The wire is threaded through the box and stapled in place against the stud.
Next, the orange insulation is stripped off the end, and the end of the insulation on the three wires is stripped as well. The fourth wire, on the left, is the ground. it isn't insulated to begin with.
Bruce then attached the wires to their respective spots on the outlet.
Each wire is connected in the proper place and a screw is tightened to hold it in place.
Next the outlet is pushed back into the box. The wires have to be bent just right in order for everything to fit.
Bruce then fastened it in place with the screws.
And there you have it!
That was the outlet for our future gas pump. We then went back to working on the outlet for the oven in the kitchen. It took some maneuvering, but Bruce got the wire threaded through.
The grey box will house the new outlet.
After Bruce hooked up the wires I got to help with this one!
Done! Not bad for an hour of work!
One final important step is to add the metal nail plates to keep a nail from accidentally going through the wire when the sheet rock and cabinets are put in. Because that would be bad!
I'll wrap up with a couple of pictures of the wires Bruce buried to run power to the island. The concrete is dry now, and the wires have been run through the conduit.
Well, that's all for now! Soon I will be writing about the rest of the progress on the kitchen, the gas lines, some more AC return work, and the hall bathroom. The project is gaining momentum!
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