How to Add Dual Home Electrical Outlets

Install an electric box at the location of the new outlet. If you have access to the studs, nail a plastic rough-in box to the side of the one nearest the point where you want the outlet. If the walls are already covered over, use a drywall saw to cut a hole in the drywall for a remodeling box but don't install it yet.

Run electrical cable from a convenient source of electricity. It may be a nearby switch, another outlet or a light circuit. You can also run a cable to the new outlet directly from the main breaker panel. If you tie into an existing circuit, use the same size cable that already exists in the circuit. It's a violation of code to change wire sizes in the middle of a circuit.

Pull the cable through the back of the rough-in box, or through the hole in the wall, if you made one, and then through the back of a remodeling box. Pull out about 6 to 8 inches of cable. If you're using a remodeling box, set it into the hole and anchor it in place with a Phillips screwdriver.

Cut sheathing from the wire with a knife, separate the wires and strip the ends of the insulated ones with a wire stripper. Look on the back of the dual outlet. If there are holes, you can feed the wires into them and they will self-clamp. The black wire goes behind the top brass terminal and the white wire goes behind the top silver one. If there are no holes, loosen the terminal screws, bend the wires clockwise with pliers, hook them them to the appropriate terminal screws and tighten the nuts.

Make a hook in the end of the bare wire in the electrical cable that goes to ground. Hook it around the green terminal screw on the outlet and tighten the screw.

Push the wires into the electrical box and screw the outlet to the box with the machine screws that came with it.

Turn off the power to the circuit from which you are drawing power by flipping off the breaker in the breaker box. Connect the other end of the cable to the power source. If you are drawing power from another outlet, connect the cable to the bottom pair of terminals. If you're using a switch, light fixture or the panel itself, the procedure is slightly more complicated.