Blue and Yellow Electrical Wiresīlue and yellow wires are most commonly found in commercial buildings and are used as the live wires pulled through a conduit. Since red wires conduct current, they are considered hot. You can link two red wires together, or you can link a red wire to a black wire. These wires are typically used for switch wiring as well as the interconnection between smoke detectors hard-wired into the power system. Red electrical wires are the secondary live wires in 220-volt circuits and are commonly found in a sheathed, multi-conductor cable. They are most commonly found in residential buildings. Black wires are never used for a ground or neutral wire and are meant to be used as the power feed for a switch or an outlet. These wires are often used as a switch leg that transfers power to switches and outlets in all circuits. Any circuit’s black wire should be considered live at all times.
Make sure you use extra caution when dealing with these - when you see a black wire, you know it is hot. Black Electrical Wiresīlack electrical wires carry the current from the power source to the outlet and used for power in all types of circuits. This is incredibly important to know before you start any kind of home wiring project, as well as essential to your safety, so let’s explore what these colored wires mean and when to use them. But what does each one mean?įortunately, the color coatings around the copper conductor of the wire give you all the clues you need to know as to what each wire does and whether it’s hot, neutral, or ground. The electrical wires that bind your home together come in an array of colors that specify each wire function in a circuit.