How to Install a Weatherproof Outlet for Christmas Lights
Here’s an easy way to install a weatherproof outlet on any side of your home.
Step one – Select the desired location (on the exterior of your home) for your weatherproof Christmas light outlet. Then go inside your house and find an outlet that corresponds to the same general location as your desired exterior location.
Step two – Turn off the power to the outlet. An easy way to know if the power has been turned off to that outlet (while you are at the electrical panel) is to plug a radio in so you can hear when it is turned off.
Step three – Remove (unscrew) the faceplate and the outlet from the box. Drill a Ã?¾-inch hole through the back of the box and continue to drill through the exterior siding of your home. Note: If you have brick on the exterior of your house, you will need a Ã?¼ inch masonry bit to drill a pilot hole. Then drill a Ã?¾-inch hole from the outside. This will prevent the brick from busting up to much and making it difficult to mount the weatherproof box later.
Step four – Cut a piece of 14-2 or 12-2 NM ( “Romex” ) wire two feet long and push it through the hole you just drilled. Most rooms in your home will be 14-2 gage wire. Dining rooms, kitchen, and bath outlets (on newer homes) are all 12-2 gage wire. If you’re not sure, use 12-2. It is used for 20 amp circuits and 14-2 is used for 15 amp circuits.
Step five – Go outside and prep the weatherproof box. If you have a metal weatherproof box (“Bell Box”), twist a Ã?½-inch NM (Romex) connector into the backside of the box. The screw in clamps on the connector will be on the backside of the box – the side that will be against the side of your house.
You will also have to screw in the oval mounting brackets on the back side of the box, and install the (green) ground screw in the raised hole (on the inside of the box). Install the round screw in blanks to close off all but one of the remaining holes in the box.
If you have a plastic weatherproof box, you may have to drill a �½ inch hole in the back of the box and put the NM (Romex) connector in the back of the box the same way as you would for the metal box (see instructions above).
Step six – Twist the photocell in the last opening. The three wires – Black, Red, and White should be inside the box.
Step seven – Slide the wire through the connector so 6 to 8 inches of wire is coming out the front opening of the box. Screw in the clamps on the connector to secure the wire in place. Then push the weatherproof box to the wall. The wire should push back into the hole you drilled and the NM (Romex) connector should fit into the hole, allowing the box to lay flat against the side of your home.
Step eight – Mount the weatherproof box to your home by screws placed through the mounting brackets. If you have a brick home, you will need to drill holes with a masonry bit and use either Tap Cons (masonry screws) or plastic anchors. The Tap Cons and Plastic Anchors can be purchased with the proper drill bits included. If you use plastic anchors, place the plastic anchor in the drilled holes and then put screw through the mounting brackets.
For plastic weatherproof boxes, use the holes provided or drill holes through the back of the box and follow the instructions above.
Step nine – Strip the outer sheathing (usually white for 14-2 and yellow for 12-2). You should see one black wire, one white wire, and one bare copper wire. Take the bare copper wire and twist it around the green ground screw (clockwise). Tighten the ground screw so the bare wire is tightly secured between the green screw and the metal box. You should have about 6 inches of bare wire coming out of the box from that ground screw.
Step ten – Strip about Ã?½ inch of the black coating off of the black NM (Romex) wire. Twist the silver strands (from the black wire on the photocell) clockwise – around the exposed copper on the black NM (Romex) wire you just stripped. Be sure to get the top of the silver stranded wire even with the top of the stripped NM wire. Then tightly twist a “wire nut” clockwise on the two wires to secure the two wires together.
Step eleven – Installing a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI or GFI) outlet. These are the outlets with the reset buttons on them. You will see them around sinks, in garages, or outside your of your home.
A. ) Screw the bare copper wire on the green screw of the outlet.
B.) Cut another 6 inch piece of wire from an unused roll. Remove the white wire from the outer sheathing. Strip about �½ of the white coating off of the white NM wire in the box and the white piece you just cut. If you have a pair of pliers, twist (clockwise) the two exposed strips of copper together. Then take the white wire from the photocell and twist the silver strands clockwise onto the two copper wires. Then tightly twist a wire nut onto the three wires to secure them together
If you don’t have a pair of pliers, position the two exposed copper ends and the silver end together so that all three ends are even at the top. Tightly twist a wire nut onto the three wires to secure them.
C.) Strip �½ inch off the end of the white wire (that comes out of the wire nut). Place the exposed end into one of the two holes on the bottom of the GFI outlet (The bottom is the end with the green ground screw). Screw in the silver screw to secure the wire in place.
D.) Place the silver strands of the red wire (from the photocell) into the hole on the bottom of the GFI outlet on the right side (under the gold screw). Screw the gold screw in to secure the red wire.
E.) Tuck the wires and wire nuts neatly into the box. Push the GFI outlet back into the box and screw it onto the box by the screws above and below the outlet.
Step twelve – Install a weather proof “In Use” (or Bubble cover) on the outlet.
Step thirteen – Go back inside and strip the outer sheathing off the wire you ran to the weatherproof outlet. Cut the wire so about six inches is coming out of the box.
A.) Remove the wire nut and twist the bare copper wire onto the bare copper (or green) wires. If there is no existing splice, you will have to make one by removing the bare wire from the outlet and twisting the bare wire (that goes outside) onto it, Then get a six inch piece of bare copper from an unused roll and twist it onto the other two wires. Then secure the end of the bare copper wire to the green ground screw.
B.) Strip �½ inch off the white outer coating and either twist it onto the existing splice (if there is one) or make a splice as noted above on the bare copper wire. You can also secure the white wire under one of the silver screws if one of them is not being used.
C.) Do the same on the black wire as directed on the white wire in step 13 B.
Step fourteen – Tuck all wires and wire nuts neatly into the box. Push the outlet back into the box and screw it onto the box by the screws above and below the outlet.
Step fifteen – Go to the electrical panel and turn the power back on. Plug the radio back into the outlet inside to be sure it’s working properly.
Step sixteen – Go outside and cover the eye of the photocell with black electrical tape or cardboard. This should activate the photocell and send power to the GFI outlet. It may take a minute or two to activate. When it does, press the “Trip” and “Reset” buttons on the GFI outlet. Then plug the radio (or something) into the outlet to see if it works properly. If it does, remove the covering from the photocell and wait to see if the power turns off. It takes about a minute or so for the photocell to turn it off.
It the outlet isn’t working, try the reset buttons again. If it still doesn’t work, turn off power at the panel again and check all your splices to make sure the connections are good.
Step seventeen. – Run you Christmas lights and plug them in. Relax at night in a warm cozy home while your lights come on automatically at night and shut off automatically in the morning!
