disconnector connect? where would you have a thing like this? >> probably adjacent to the motor. >> you can lock it out when you turn the thing off. i can't close it. got my fingers in there. >> there some one with a fuse in there. >> there is a fuse disconnect. same thing but fuseable. i got my fingers caught too many times. they have another place where you can lock them out. as you turn it on or off, you can put a padlock through here or some other device. and when you're working on an electrical system, typically, you will lock it out. you will tag it out so that you know that the continuing is turned off and nobody -- thing is turned off and nobody continuation it on. you'll tag it out by put a tag. >> up until now, we have been talking about power wiring, 240 volts.

here we are in some air where there is low-vot ago wiring used for communications. >> we have two kinds of wire. we have line voltage and low voltage. what is the difference between those two types. >> the low-voltage wiring doesn't present a shock hazard. you don't have to put the wires in a conduit or a cable. this is thermostat wire. it's called class two wire. when you have a class two transformer, you're allowed to run this cable either exposed or concealed in building construction without a cable. there would be an example of some similar. this would be computer wire and in a lot of new houses now that the people are putting the computer wire and telephone wires, as low as the thermostat wires in the walls and they don't have to use conduit or cable. all different colors. >> are there standards for what

colors you use? is brown always used for thermostat wire? >> no code requirement. just a manufacturing requirement. all different colors. the only restriction that some jurisdictions do is they limit fire alarm cable to red. >> people have asked about insulation types, if you have heat blown through, you need higher-rated insulation? >> the general rule is you cannot put this kind of cable where environmental air is moving through. there is an exception in houses where you can go perpendicular to the space between a wood joys. there are different levels of fire resistance. the standard is it it can be just anywhere concealed, or exposed construction. the next standard is where it doesn't spread flames.

you can put it in a shaft in a larger building. the highest redistance can go in another space used with environmental air where air is moving but not in a sheet metal duct. >> and many buildings have dropped ceilings and they run air in their dropped ceiling, and sometimes it's under floor. that has been this rated cable. >> it's required by code to be identified every 24 inches. you'll see the designation and it tells you as an inspector if it's appropriately installed. >> one of the big issues related to cabling and wiring is when a tenant moves out, they have to remove the low-voltage wiring. sometimes that's a serious problem. there is a lot of low-voltage wiring. >> the unused low-voltage wiring. they put that code in a number of years after there was a

large fire in london that caused structural damage to a high-rise building due to the accumulation of come dustable materials. >> they have to have more wiring for computers and phones. if you cycle through, pretty soon you have an enormous amount of low-voltage wiring. >> that has been a problem in the past. we're trying to address it. >> great. >> one question we were just asked, if you want to get really clean power for home video, theater, or computer, how would you go about doing that? does it help to have better armored cable or how would you go about getting really clean power? >> that's a very complicated question.

there are a lot of answers to it. one solution would to have a dedicated circuit, a kyr kit that comes from the panel board that only supplies the receptacles that you're going to be using for the computer or sensitive equipment is one answer. you want to make sure that you install that circuit, the wires are remote from any radio frequency devices or any other circuits that might impose a radio frequency on them. >> what kind of wires would impose a radio frequency? >> it could be a computer, another computer, it could be the microwave oven. >> you want to separate is from any other -- >> ideally. if you're running your wires in a raceway or an armored cable that uses ferrous metal, that protects those conductors against these radio frequencies much better than nonmetallic cable. that would be another strategy.

and then if you're in a commercial installation where it is really, really important, you put in isolation transformers adjacent to the equipment. that's the most expensive solution but the best solution is to actually put an isolation device right at your equipment. they also have filters that you can buy, but that's a commercial-grade installation. residentially, a dedicated circuit, try to separate it from other wiring to the extent possible. >> anything you might want to add to that? >> yes, they're called a clean circuit. you use the m.c. cable or 12-three, 12-2, the whole circuit. the computer or the microwave. >> so if you can probably do it, it sounds like putting in some kind of metal conduit-clad cable or something that will really reduce the interference.

read for me what all these little things mean here. let's tip it up a little bit. >> priority a.w.g. 6-3 type s.o.o. w 600 volt sunlight and water resistant. >> which means what? >> it means it's a cord rather than a cable or wire. the cord is not to be used for permanent wiring. this is a cord that is designed for temporary power. >> it's a big cord. >> it is, it's 50 amp. >> what do they mean when they say primary? >> i don't know what it means. american wire gauge, the six is the size of the aware, the 3 is the three conductors, the type s.o.o.w., that's extra hard use cord. the w stand for wet. 600 volts is the volts it's good for and in the sun and underwater. it's 90 degrees

centigrade-rated. it can run as high as 180 degrees without deterioration. this can get really hot. >> what would you use this cord for? >> temporary power for construction. >> i see, ok. >> or you might use it for example, on a peer when you need a flexible wiring method to get from the shore to the pier. you are allowed to use cord wiring. >> it would be permanent -- >> it's an exception to the general rule. under certain conditions you can use cord and where flexibility is required, that's one example. >> ok. that is a completely category from all of these wires and cables that we see here. >> let's look at these wires and cables. this is armored. >> this is an armored cable. it has a single conductor in it and it is used for grounding. >> we see the copper without peeling it back, you can see the copper ground. >> sometimes you can use bare wire. >> this is bare wire, but it's

solid. >> it's bare stranded wire. >> so we get wire that is stranded sometimes it's solid. >> here is an example of sod. so that these wires can be used for the same purpose. probably the same size installers prefer to use solid. it's required by code in swimming pools, but this is an easier, when it's stranded, it's easier to use. this is probably the cable of choice in concrete. this is the classic wire and number four to be encased in concrete at the bottom of a footing to get a good ground. >> look at some of these things here. >> here is another cable. it's nonmetallic cable. it has four conductors in it like the other cable. it's a larger size. it's for a 100-amp meter. it has a white, black, and red of probably number four and number eight ground wire in it, nonmetallic cable. >> this is the big stuff now. >> this would be a theater to a

panel board versus, how about this one here? this is a single conductor. the wire will go in a conduit for a commercial installation and would supply a 200-amp panel board. >> how big does it have to be for 400? >> two sets. or you can use something called 500 which is a conductor twice as big as this. >> hard to work with. >> you have the choices in installing. two sets of these or one set of 500's. >> when somebody orders this grounding electrode, how much do they usually order? >> by national code, we need 20 feet. >> 20 feet has to be buried. >> in the rebar. we need 20 feet. so whatever we need longer, we

can cut extra. >> so 20 feet plus what it takes to get. >> whatever they want to. >> cut us off a little bit.

>> david, let's talk about energy efficiency. i know fluorescent lights and bulbs are a big issues right now. people are changing old-style fluorescent bulbs. what's the old one, the new one and the savings? >> the standard of the industry were t-12. this was a four-foot lamp. the 12 stands for and and it's about four or five times more efficient than the typical incandescent light bulb. in the energy to increase energy efficiency. they have a more efficient standard. it's a two footer.

it's called the t-8. it's half an inch in diameter. these are bi-pin fluorescent fixtures. these are 10, 15% for efficient than the older t-12. all of the fixtures bought now have the t-8. >> i understand they're going to stop making t-12 bulbs. >> it is scheduled for extinction. >> along the same lines, the city of san francisco is considering an ordinance to require the conversion from the old 212 to t-8 efficiency fixtures or higher. >> there are discussions. many of the large owners have gone to retrofits because there is a very good payback on it. the only commercial buildings that haven't done that are the smaller buildings where there is not as much money involved. >> so what other

energy-efficient leading do we see these days? >> in both residential and commercial applications, you're seeing a trend toward compact fluorescent bulbs where instead of the conventional edison-based socket. >> the edison base, the screw type socket. >> the standard screw-in socket that everybody uses. >> all are edison, right. >> now you're seeing pictures that have four-pin contact fluorescent bulbs. these are even more efficient -- they're approximately as fingerprint as a t-8. so they get about five times as much energy efficiency as a conventional light bulb. this goes into a special socket. you have to buy the fixture. >> the new california energy code is the country's most stringent energy code. and it says that in many cases, you must install energy first lighting pictures in new

construction and when you're replacing pictures and you have to install -- fixes and you have to -- fixtures and you have to install four pins in kitchens for example and they cannot be replaced with screw type sockets. it will only take this type of bulb. you have to replace the whole fixture to go back. >> there is a prohibition against using edison-based fixtures. there are exceptions. for residential kitchens, more than 50% of the wattage has to be energy-efficient and throughout the rest of the house, you have to use energy efficient dimmers or you have to use fluorescent light bulbs. you can design with incandescent lights, although i anticipate in future energy efficient codes, that exception will go away. >> there are lots and lots of other requirements in the california energy code that relate to electrical installation. for example, you can no longer

put electriresistance heat in buildings unless you have put in a gigantic solar system or something that shows a reasonable tradeoff. it simply can't be done. when people put in an electrical baseboard heater and plugged it in and turn it on or hot wired it, you can't do it any more. it's not allowed. >> electrical resistance heating, it's not allowed. >> that's right. >> here is another successful of an energy-efficient light bulb that takes 55 watts and it lasts 10,000 hours. it puts out much more light than a conventional 55-watt light bulb wood. >> here is an energy-efficient high-pressure wall sodium security light. if you put in exterior lighting, there is all sorts of restriction on exterior lighting, both how many watts you're allowed to have and what the ivica si is, -- efficacy.

there is a dark sty provision, lots and lots of requirements. people are calling me saying, pete, there is too much light in the city. people are putting up security lights anywhere. those are highly regulated now. you can't just light up anything any more, is that right? >> you can't shine the lights up into the sky and the lights are required to be energy-efficient by code. i think if you use a daylight dense sores and motion sensor combination, you are allowed to use a conventional light with the combination of the sensors. this is a very national efficient light. it takes 70 watts but it probably puts out the equifflant of five times the light that an incandescent light bulb would. >> it lasts for a long time. this is $24,000 replacing a $2

bulb. >> 10 times as long. >> we're going to look at boxes and devices and rings. >> right around the corner. >> we're going to walk over to the devices. >> devices. >> on the way over to this location after talking about energy-efficient light bulbs, i noticed the display for halogen bulbs. there are a lot of halogen lights and this is a 20-watt bulb. they're popular in kitchens and very popular for display. the problem with them is they are very inefficient. they create a lot of heat for the light and they are not allowed to be used by the energy code except in displays.

even though customers like them, they're really not desirable in terms of the energy code. >> a lot of stuff is sold in stores that doesn't meet the code or is not efficient or is really not in your best interests, but they sell it. you go to the big box hardware stores and you can buy a lot of stuff that isn't -- that is simply not energy first or not used, green, or not allowed under the code, but they continue to sell it and people buy it. so we don't regulate that. we cannot regular it. we can regulate things that people put in their homes and usually only when they get a permit and then we do an inspection. a lot of things are done without inspection. somebody replace a bulb, no permits required, may not be efficient. >> while we're on the subject of lights, l.e.d. lights are coming in and they are much

more efficient then the fluorescent lights. majority of them have not been certified by the california energy commission, but there are products coming into the marketplace now that are certified as being energy efficient and i anticipate that will turn from a trickle into a flood in the near future. l.e.d.'s are something to look for. >> here we have two aisles of the stuff you sort of finish your work with. on one side here, we have the boxes an so on and then we have the trim. let's look at these boxes. david, get a couple of these boxes here. >> these are three examples. this is an example when you're using metal wiring conduit or m.c. cable on commercial. there is a device box so that you can put the receptacle or the switch right in it. convention alley, the box is

shaped differently, it's set back and you can place a ring on it. this is a ring for two layers of sheetrock on a commercial job. this is a box and a ring and here is another example of a small box called a device box intended for one device, one switch, or one plug. they're very limited in use, but there are applications for it. >> they have little knockouts, you can pup it out and connect your connector or cable to it. >> the nonmetallic boxes are used with nonme tellic cable. this is used in residential wood frame construction. bang on it with the hammer. bang a hole in the top and you shove your nonmetallic cable into the box. >> very fast to install. it's all ready to go. you can hold it right into position and a couple of taps, the whole thing is done. ok, great. and he sells hundreds of types of sizes and shapes and six,

10, one at a time all to hold anything. >> just hundreds and hundreds. the catalogs are full of them. he said he has over 22,000 items in his store, except for the inventory items. >> wow. we have on this side all sorts of trim. look at this gigantic trim plate. so within the boxes you just showed us, you would put one of these little devices and then -- ok. >> and example of a switch that would go in here and, of course, this is a single switch and here is a six-gang device, a trim cover. >> and they come in different colors and shapes and sizes and white and beige and taupe and gray. >> here we what i call -- i wouldn't call it -- these are

the inexpensive standard switch and receptacle that you can buy. they are the least expensive. they're the code minimum. if you're putting a receptacle or a switch in that is not switching a heavy load or getting heavy use, it's quite appropriate. if you're going to be switching a heavy load or you expect to use the recentable over and over and the switch over and over, you're better off buying a more expensive receptacle. these are what they call -- i think they're called the decor line where they have the square look. but, actually, as far as the back goes, they're the same quality, the switches have about the same quality. >> and so there is little green guy. what is this for? >> it's a ground terminal. the code has every switch to be grounded. so they have a little ground terminal that you have to connect your ground wire to.

>> so every switch, every receptacle has this? >> it's all identified by green. the neutral is silver. the white wire goes on the silver terminal and the ungrounded conductor, black or red goes on the gold terminal. and the ground wire goes on the green terminal. so we were talking about the inexpensive versus the expensive. this is the highest grade. it's called hospital grade. it has a green dot on it. it's extremely sturd liability for multiple uses. in the product standard, i believe the ground wire always makes first and breaks last to provide an additional level of safety. >> how much does this hospital grade receptacle cost? >> $9.30 and here 50 cents for

the regular one. >> 50 cents versus $9-plus. big difference. you have something like 22,000 separate inventory items in this warehouse. >> yes. >> that is hard to keep track of. how do you manage your inventory? >> we try to put it inside the computer. >> try. >> and keep my mind clear so try to remember it. more than 22,000 items but still not enough. >> not enough, people ask for stuff you don't have? >> yes, other items. >> we have a question if you're replacing an older switch or receptacle and the wiring is not color-coded, how do you know which is the hot wire, which is the neutral, or does it even matter? >> for a switch, you have the hot wire and you have the switch length. for a single-volt switch, it

doesn't matter. if you're talking about a recent kl, it's extremely important to determine which they are and terminate them on the proper receptacle. it's extremely common for our inspectors to find a reverse polarity and rekept kl with open ground. it's a surprising common occurrence in our daily inspection procedure. if the conductors aren't identified, you need to be trained -- you need to test it and it's not easy to determine sometimes. >> we have special procedures in san francisco for issuing electrical permits to homeowners. we don't do that readily. you have to actually come in and discuss it and we have to make sure that we believe that you know what you're doing because there is so many hazards involved in messing with your home electrical

system. people hire a licensed electrician to do, even replacing rekept kls and -- receptacles and so on. >> i'm here with greg pearl, a manufacturer's rep for a number of different electrical supplies and i wanted to ask a question about what is new in energy-saving fixtures and devices? i know that's the biggest thing in california right now, energy savings. >> certainly right now california requirements title 24, we have the energy reduction program. a lot of that started out with compact fluorescent. you'll see cans like this, household residential use and in offices as well, but this particular one takes a 26-watt compact fluorescent lamp equal

to probably close 100 watts of incon december sense. we have -- incon desense. >> how about the color. sem people say they don't like compact flores dense because they're a cold color. >> people are used to cool light, 41 degrees calvin. the higher the number, the bluer and whiter it is. the lower the number, they make lamps which are quite warm-looking like the ones you would find in a house somewhere. certainly 3,000 or 2,700 degrees and your kitchen looks just great. >> we were talking about metering separately for different residential units and this i understand louisiana people to do separate submetering for commercial spaces. is that right? >> we do have an opportunity for people to -- a lot of times in the electricity is just built into your rent, no one even seems to care whether they're turning things on or

off and save energy. when you make them responsible for their own energy use, they decided make it's a good idea to turn a light off every now and again. >> how does this work? >> these meters are installed and we have what they call split-core current sensor and it wraps wraps what you're trying to measure. the meter meets all federal accuracy ansi standards and every month you get an idea how much energy you have. it has a digital readout. it can be tied into a software program that you can read the meters remotely and certainly that's a plus for people with lots of units. >> for a long time, the state didn't allow submetering. >> technically after 1978, it said utility was the only one that could charge for a electrical bill. they amended that for commercial tenants where landlords and tenants agree, especially if there is a master especially if there is a master meter and there is only one