is wiring to an extension cord safe?

[tempusfugit]

So I bought lights from home depot that are supposed to be wired into the wall. I know a lot of people here have made plugs for them using extension cords..

Now searching about this subject, I've found many publications saying - never use extension cords as permanent wiring. If you google just that, you'll see what I mean. My girlfriends mom is a fire inspector and has seen fires from this, and it definitely isn't allowed by fire code. Also I've seen many people on forums when answering people's questions about wiring lights to an extension cord, saying, 'ya it will work, but its definitely not the right way to do it'

I see nothing mentioned about grounds in the crossfire page. I even control-f'd for ground and nothing... I'm 90% sure every flourescent fixture, or anything with a ballast needs a ground.

soooo.. any electrical experts wanna chime in?? Is it technically wrong to do this, but we're messing with such low wattage/amperage/whatever it doesn't matter? Or are we risking a house burning down to save a few bucks?

 

[saleen89559]

It is do-able but I would get a new lamp cord for a living room lamp and wire that in. Some of them come with the switch inline in the cord too.

 

[tempusfugit]

I called home depot to ask if they had any kits to turn wires into a plug.. The lady told me thisand this is backed up by my fire inspector girlfriend's mom)

"Any light not on UL listed wiring is against code, and when your house burns down that's all the insurance will need to see to deny your claim"

That's pretty much case closed for me... off to try to return the wiring type lights for ones with plugs.

 

[Claudiusx]

You should be able to ground it yourself pretty easily.

IMO. It is safe if you do your wiring properly.

-Brandon

 

[kjinxx2]

You can buy a three-prong cord that will have the ground wire right there for you. There is nothing wrong with wiring a light like this. When they say 'permanent' they mean putting a fluorescent light in your ceiling and running an extension cord through your walls to an outlet in your attic. You can make a portable light fixture from that fixture using a cord and it will be perfectly fine and legal.

 

[tempusfugit]

You should be able to ground it yourself pretty easily.

IMO. It is safe if you do your wiring properly.

-Brandon

You can buy a three-prong cord that will have the ground wire right there for you. There is nothing wrong with wiring a light like this. When they say 'permanent' they mean putting a fluorescent light in your ceiling and running an extension cord through your walls to an outlet in your attic. You can make a portable light fixture from that fixture using a cord and it will be perfectly fine and legal.

Its probably 99% safe and I'm sure its possible. I'd even wager you could hook UVB and both heat lamps up in parallel to one cord and you wouldn't start a fire 99 times out of 100.

I understand you can ground it, was just pointing out there is nothing mentioned about it in the crossfire page.

As for it being perfectly legal, its not. Did you consult a licensed electrician or a fire inspector?? Or are you just guessing because everyone else does it.

 

[FoothillBeardie]

Per my landlord who is a CA licenced electrican the way I wired mine is to code. I ran a 12/3 extension cord into one side of my t8 fixture, hooked up the ground and terminated it there. Then ran the power and neutral to a ceramic 2 wire fixture for a screw in type bulb. I dont know if you have ever opened up a prewired flourcent fixture but it is just an extension cord wired to the fixture. I personally think that extension cord wire is actually alot better then romex type wire. All though there is multistrand romex look at that compared to a UL listed 12/3 extension cord and there are about x2 the strands. Remember that extension cords are made to be moved around and stepped on and even ran over with equipment in some circumstances. IMHO and per my landlord I would never use anything but a UL listed 12/3 or larger extension cord for wiring a viv. Thanks. Mike.

 

[MrWhite]

You can buy a three-prong cord that will have the ground wire right there for you. There is nothing wrong with wiring a light like this. When they say 'permanent' they mean putting a fluorescent light in your ceiling and running an extension cord through your walls to an outlet in your attic. You can make a portable light fixture from that fixture using a cord and it will be perfectly fine and legal.

As for it being perfectly legal, its not. Did you consult a licensed electrician or a fire inspector?? Or are you just guessing because everyone else does it.

kjinxx2 is right, the word "permanent" does mean wiring that is a permanent part of your house and not a corded item. Basically, the electrical code does not want you to run 2-wire lamp cord in your walls. Corded items are not considered permanent or else every single floor lamp or appliance would be considered illegal if left plugged in.

how do I know this? My father is a retired electrician and I went to school to be an electrician (I'm a software engineer now)

 

[MrWhite]

Per my landlord who is a CA licenced electrican the way I wired mine is to code. I ran a 12/3 extension cord into one side of my t8 fixture, hooked up the ground and terminated it there. Then ran the power and neutral to a ceramic 2 wire fixture for a screw in type bulb. I dont know if you have ever opened up a prewired flourcent fixture but it is just an extension cord wired to the fixture. I personally think that extension cord wire is actually alot better then romex type wire. All though there is multistrand romex look at that compared to a UL listed 12/3 extension cord and there are about x2 the strands. Remember that extension cords are made to be moved around and stepped on and even ran over with equipment in some circumstances. IMHO and per my landlord I would never use anything but a UL listed 12/3 or larger extension cord for wiring a viv. Thanks. Mike.

your landlord is correct, to be ABSOLUTELY safe, 12/3 extension cord (black, white, ground) is the maximum you will ever need for a viv. 12/3 wire is rated for 20 amps which translates to (power = volts x amps) 120v x 20a = 2400watts maximum. if you're using that much wattage, you have some crazy viv :wink: . My viv only uses a 20w uvb fixture and a 40w basking, 60 watts is a far cry from 2400w

All houses only have either 15 or 20 amp general purpose branch circuits in their houses. what this means is if your viv has an electrical problem like a short circuit, the circuit breaker in your panel will "pop" at 20 amps of overload and therefore not allow the wiring to overheat and cause a fire.

and really, most houses only have 15amp circuits because wiring for 20 amps in a house costs a whole lot more running 12 gauge romex(rated for 20 amp) versus 14 gauge romex (rated for 15 amp). 14/3 cord for all practical purposes is all you'll ever need unless you know you have 20 amp circuits in you house.

now that I confused the hell out of everyone .... I hope this makes sense

 

[FoothillBeardie]

Makes perfect sence to me. My house is all wired 20 amps and my whole garage is wired 30 amps. With 3 50 amp 220v plugs so I think everything will be ok. Mike.

 

[Claudiusx]

Actually Larry, that was very informative

I wish I knew more about electricity and stuff like that, all I know is the basics :mrgreen:

-Brandon

 

[MrWhite]

Makes perfect sence to me. My house is all wired 20 amps and my whole garage is wired 30 amps. With 3 50 amp 220v plugs so I think everything will be ok. Mike.

I'm guessing your 30amp circuits all have special 30amp rated outlets and wired with 10 gauge romex. if they are standard 15 or 20 amp rated outlets with 12 or 14 gauge romex, you'll need to fix this. or are you saying your 30 amp circuits have 50amp plugs?

 

[FoothillBeardie]

Sorry I worded that weird. The garage is wired with 10/3 romex with 30 amp plugs and breakers on the 110v part. The 220v is wired with 6/4 (if I remember correctly) with 50 amp dual pull breakers with 60amp plugs. I might be off a little on wire size on the 220v I put that in when we moved in. I use the 220v for my welder, plasma cutter, and air compressor every thing works well. My welder requires 60amp plugs thats why I used those btw. Mike.

 

[MrWhite]

Actually Larry, that was very informative

I wish I knew more about electricity and stuff like that, all I know is the basics :mrgreen:

-Brandon

thanks,

basically, you want to match your permanent wiring/outlet amp rating to your circuit breaker rating and not have your permanent wiring be underrated (overrated wiring/outlets are ok). The exception is non-permanent lamps and appliances, they will use cord wiring that's rated for the anticipated load of the appliance. That's why you see lamps with only 18 gauge lamp cord plugged into a 15 amp wall socket because the anticipated load is only a single 75 or 100 watt light bulb and it's not a permanent wired device. Everyone should realize that your viv is not a permenantly wired device and should be wired for your viv's load.

 

[MrWhite]

Sorry I worded that weird. The garage is wired with 10/3 romex with 30 amp plugs and breakers on the 110v part. The 220v is wired with 6/4 (if I remember correctly) with 50 amp dual pull breakers with 60amp plugs. I might be off a little on wire size on the 220v I put that in when we moved in. I use the 220v for my welder, plasma cutter, and air compressor every thing works well. My welder requires 60amp plugs thats why I used those btw. Mike.

yeah, that sounds perfect.