Wired my own house different than what everyone preaches

I did my own alarm install at my place in Austin last month and went against what most guys here say. Everyone talks about running all wires back to a central panel in the basement or closet. I put my panel in the living room behind a fake plant instead because my attic access is terrible and I didn't want to drill through 3 floors. It took longer to run the phone line from the kitchen but saved me about 4 hours of crawling in 110 degree heat. The wire runs are shorter so I used a smaller gauge wire than normal and everything tested fine. Has anyone else put a panel in a weird spot and had it work out ok?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.brooke22d ago

Whoa, I get the heat thing but putting a panel behind a fake plant in the living room sounds risky to me lol. Smaller gauge wire might pass now but it could be a fire hazard if you ever pull more current through it without thinking. Just feels like one of those shortcuts that works today but makes a headache down the road.

ninal9121d ago

Yeah I had a similar setup a couple years back and honestly if you size the wire right for what you're actually running it's fine... I used a 14 gauge for a 15 amp breaker and never had an issue even running a space heater off it, @wells.brooke. Just gotta label the box clearly so you don't forget what's back there later. Been working for me for three years now no problems.