Wiring the Outside of Your Digital Home

Your digital home doesn't have to end at the exterior walls. You can extend the value and enjoyment of technology to the outdoors. Installing some basic wiring for power and other electronic conveniences is easy.

Powering sunrooms

Sunrooms are indoor/outdoor rooms with these features:

• Coverage by the house's roof

• One or more doors to the main house

• One or more doors to a deck, patio, or yard

Typically, two or three walls are shared with the main house and are covered by stucco or other siding material; the other wall(s) is screened, sometimes glassed in, and may have one or more sliding glass doors. The floor in the sunroom may be concrete, teak wood, or outdoor carpeting. To meet electrical code, sunrooms are considered outdoor spaces because at least one side is open to the elements (or only separated from the weather by screens).

You can run wiring in sunrooms much like indoor wiring. Use Romex nonmetallic cable for the wiring on shared walls (walls shared with the main house). You can feed light switches for the sunroom with Romex if the switches are inside the home and not in the screened area. Protect switches in the sunroom with weatherproof covers (or weatherproof boxes with weatherproof covers) in the non-shared walls. The wiring to weather-exposed switches must be underground feeder (UF) cable, conduit with rain-tight fittings, or PVC conduit.

Other electrical components in the sunroom also need special consideration:

• Lighting fixtures: The fixtures should be marked for use in damp locations. Any fixtures marked for use in wet locations can also be used here. Most recessed fixtures are suitable for use in damp locations, but always check the specifications to be sure.

• Electrical receptacles: Any receptacles mounted on an exterior house wall can use indoor wiring methods (such as Romex) but must be protected by weatherproof covers. Electrical receptacles installed on exposed walls must be fed by UF cable or conduit. The receptacles must have weatherproof covers and be GFI protected.

• Circuit loading: If you're only considering a few light fixtures, you can power them from one of the house circuits. If you only have a few receptacles, you can connect them to the exterior outlet circuit. However, if the sunroom has a lot of outlets or you plan to install appliances that draw a lot of current, run a separate circuit from the panel just for this area.

• Electrical devices and appliances: A lot of the equipment and appliances popular in sunrooms aren't rated for damp-area use. These items may include TVs, computers, radios, and electric grills. Move these things into the house on rainy days, or at least cover and unplug them.

Electrifying patios and decks

Patios and decks don't usually have roofs, and they may only share one wall with the house, if not be completely detached from the home. Because of the increased exposure, wiring to patios and decks is a little more challenging than wiring a sunroom. At a bare minimum you will probably want an electrical outlet to plug in a griddle or rotisserie for the gas grill.

If the patio is adjacent to the house, the easiest solution for power is to use GFI-protected receptacles on an exterior house wall. If the patio is away from the house or the layout requires power at the patio's outside edge, follow these steps:

1. Run UF Romex underground from the house to the receptacle location.

The Romex should be buried at least 18 inches. The wire can be directly buried.

2. Install a 4 inch by 4 inch treated post in the ground on which to mount the receptacle (see Figure 1).

If you can use an existing post, such as a roof or deck rail support, you don't need to install one.

3. Mount a weatherproof box on the post (or on the existing roof or deck railing).

The wire from the switch to the light in Figure 1 goes out the back of the weatherproof switch box via a hole drilled through the post at a downward angle. The angle prevents water from running into the switch box.

4. Install PVC conduit from the box down to below grade, and run the wire through the conduit up to the box.

5. Install a GFI receptacle in the box, and use a waterproof outlet cover.

In addition to a power receptacle, you may want to include some lighting for your deck or patio. If you have a roof overhead, you may want to use recessed lighting on a dimmer switch. Just make sure that any switch you use on a deck or patio is equipped with a weatherproof cover.