Light up your property with ease this year
Be it the holidays or a perfect day for doing outdoor projects around the yard, dragging an extension cord from inside your home is, well—a drag. You can circumvent navigating cords through your front door by installing an outdoor electrical outlet. Electrical outlets that are located outside your home let you power all types of equipment, from leaf blowers to lawn mowers and more. If you’re a particularly handy homeowner, follow these steps to bring the indoor convenience of electrical outlets to your yard.
The most important part of installing an outdoor electrical outlet is safety. When working with electricity, you need to take caution to prevent injury, such as electrocution. There’s also the risk of fire hazards. With this in mind, here are safety tips to help you prepare for your outdoor outlet installation.
Like bathrooms, garages, basements, laundry rooms, and other indoor outlets near water sources, your outdoor outlets need ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) to protect you from dangerous electrical shocks.
Even with safety measures like GFCIs, it’s still wise to ensure your outdoor electrical outlets come equipped with a weatherproof cover. Unpredictable weather can push dirt, rain, and debris into the sockets and pose a fire hazard when outdoor plugs lack weatherproof coverings.
Before you start installing electrical outlets outside your home, it’s important to ensure that the existing wiring is in good condition. Look for signs of faulty wiring, like flickering lights, frequent breaker trips, unusual static while touching appliances, hot fixtures, and more. If you notice these problems, you might need to upgrade your electrical system.
Make this project simple by choosing an installation site that’s within the same stud cavity as an installed indoor outlet. Refer to your local building codes for any limitations as to where you can install an outlet. For example, you can’t install an outdoor electrical outlet in the same circuit as an indoor electrical outlet located in the kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room.
Never attempt to install electrical outlets without first turning off the power supply and ensuring there’s no electrical current. Failure to do so could result in electrocution. With this in mind, flip off the power from your circuit breaker and test for live electricity using a voltage tester.
Unscrew the cover plate on your indoor outlet, the outlet itself, and the wires connected to the outlet, then remove it from the wall. Keep the screws in a container for later use.
Put your detective hat on because it’s important that there’s enough room for sliding a new cable through the electrical box inside the wall. If there’s not enough room or you have a metal box, you should replace the box with a larger, plastic electrical box so as not to overcrowd the wires.
First, use a stud finder to make sure there isn’t a wall stud where you plan on drilling or cutting into the wall. With everything cleared, use a 12- or 18-inch drill bit to drill into the wall that’s behind the outlet box until the bit pushes all the way through the exterior of your wall—straight through the siding. Keep your drill positioned at a slightly downward angle to ensure there’s plenty of room inside the wall for both electrical boxes if you plan on installing a recessed outdoor outlet.
Once you’ve made it all the way through, go around to the exterior wall and drill a 3/4-inch hole through the siding to increase the size and make it easier to slide the cable through in the later steps.
If you want your electrical outlet to fit inside the wall, you’ll need to cut into the wall. With the hole from the drill guiding you, place the new outlet box close to the center of the hole. Level the outlet box, then trace it with a pencil. Using a jigsaw, cut out the outline to make space for the new electrical box.
Push a 12/2 wire with a 20-amp circuit through the hole in the wall until you have approximately one foot of cable hanging out on both the exterior and interior walls. Cut the wire from the roll.
Now your outlets are ready to get connected. You can start with either the interior or exterior outlets. In this tutorial, we’re starting with the interior outlet. To rewire the interior outlet using a new cable, double-check that you have at least six inches of cable to work with. Expose the wires to strip 1/2-inch of insulation off the wires with a wire stripper.
Once exposed, loop the black wire with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull it clockwise under the head of the gold or bronze screw you’ll find on the side of the outlet. Be sure to tighten the screw with a screwdriver until the wire is snug.
Repeat the process for the black wire, only this time, you’ll loop the white wire clockwise under the screw head of the silver screw on your outlet. Use a screwdriver to tighten this wire into place.
You’ll also see a copper wire on your cable. This wire grounds your outlet. Connect it to the ground screw terminal and then wrap all of the wires neatly inside the box, securing them with a cable clamp. Reinstall the outlet back into the box.
If you’re mounting an electrical box rather than installing a recessed box, this is where you’ll need to attach the exterior outlet to the wall. Be sure to pull the end of the cable through the electrical box before you screw the mount into the wall. It’s also a good idea to apply 100% silicone sealant to make the hole where the wires come out waterproof in the off chance rain enters the exterior box.
To install the wiring for the GFCI outlet, repeat the same process you used to connect the cable to the indoor outlet. Connect the white, black, and bare copper ground wire to the silver, brass or gold, and green screw terminals, then secure the wires with a cable clamp and tuck them into the box.
With the wires complete, you can now connect the outlet to the exterior box. Use a screwdriver to screw the outlet into the box using the screws that came with your box.
Place the plastic cover over the opening of the exterior box. Make sure it covers the entire outlet and that you’ve placed the hinges of the cover on the top. Placing the cover with the hinges on the bottom allows for the box to pop open and for water to get in during storms. Then, secure the box cover with screws from the kit, and snap the box in place.
With everything complete, now it’s time to turn the power back on and test your handiwork. Plug in a strand of lights to make sure that everything is in working order.
Installing an outdoor electrical outlet yourself could save you up to $175. The average cost to install an electrical outlet is $225, including labor, while the price to DIY is around $50. The cost to hire an electrician or a local electrical handyperson ranges from $40 to $100 per hour.
These extra expenses, however, may be worth it if you don’t have experience working with electrical wiring. Electrical work of any kind is dangerous and best left to the pros who have ample experience working with electricity.
Though they may seem similar at a quick glance, outdoor electrical outlets are different from indoor electrical outlets in that they have extra safety precautions to prevent electrical hazards. These include GFCIs, which some indoor outlets have, and a watertight cover that allows you to use electricity from the outlet even on a rainy day.
You can use outdoor electrical outlets to conveniently power landscaping equipment such as electrical lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and pressure washers. From a recreational standpoint, outdoor outlets are handy for powering electric grills, mini-fridges, and stereos. They're also helpful when it's time to string Christmas lights on your home and around your property.
No, outdoor outlets do not usually need to be on their own circuits, according to national code. However, your local code may vary, which is why hiring a licensed electrician who knows the ins and outs of all regulations is so important. Additionally, while it is not required that outdoor outlets be on their own circuits, a pro may advise that you do so for safety concerns.
The requirements for outdoor lighting will vary depending on the type of light, where it’s located on the exterior of your home, and your local electrical code. Lights that come into contact with water (i.e. pool lights) will need to be on a GFCI, for instance. That being said, it’s safest to have any outdoor light on GFCI because of the risk of moisture. A pro can give you more specific information for your unique circumstances.
