How to Draw Home Electrical Plans

Draw your home's floor plan onto a piece of graph paper. A floor plan is essentially a bird's eye view of your home. You will need to measure your existing house, or get the correct measurements of the house you're planning to build before drawing a floor plan. When you draw your floor plan, use a 1/4 inch scale, where every foot in your house is equal to 1/4 inch on graph paper. This gives you a lot of room to work with, while keeping the entire drawing on one large piece of paper. Each floor of your house requires a separate floor plan.

Draw in all electrical outlets. Keep in mind that certain rules exist for outlet placement. For instance, every wall two feet or longer must have at least one outlet. Hallways that stretch longer than 10 feet need at least one outlet. The maximum interval between outlets is twelve feet in a straight line.

Sketch in any receptacles that will be used for wall or ceiling lights, then sketch in the corresponding light switches.

Draw and label all special outlets. These are outlets that you use or will use for your large kitchen and laundry appliances, such as your fridge or washing machine. Draw in special outlets for any large appliance you have that doesn't use a normal outlet.

Draw in the kitchen counter outlets. According to NEC Article 210.52(C)(1), each wall with a length greater than two feet must have at least one outlet.

Draw in the circuit panel. A circuit panel is where all of your wires connect, and is usually found in your basement or storage area. A circuit panel may also be known as a circuit box or fuse box.

Draw in wires connecting all of your outlets. Use solid lines to represent wires that are hidden by the walls and ceiling. Use lines made up of long and short dashes for wires that go under the floor. Use dotted lines for any wiring that is exposed. The walls of your floor plan should be to scale, so the drawing may seem cramped in places. If the electrical plan is just for you, consider using a different color for each type of wire to minimize confusion.