Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Most electrical fires are caused by faulty wiring and outlets, so yes, DIYing your own wiring and outlets can easily destroy you home...

A 10A outdoor charger probably also deserves it's own breaker.



You can reduce this further by saying most electrical fires are caused by people touching things they are not qualified to touch (and by qualified I mean competent, not Certified, or anything official).

If you are not comfortable with high voltage electrical work, or are not familiar with basic components of the electrical code that governs your area, then definitely don't do this. But mass-labeling the work of others as unsafe or harmful is not appropriate either.


Moreover, several extremely large and destructive California wildfires were ignited by dodgy DIY wiring of outdoor loads like hot tubs. Seeing as how many cars are charged outdoors, a faulty EVSE is not something I want my neighbor to try to build.


It isn't hard to DIY this right. You need to be careful and understand the NEC (or whatever your area uses), but the work isn't hard. I've seen professionals do some really bad work.


Most things are easy to DIY, conceptually. It's also really easy to be competent but make a small mistake. It's extremely high risk, extremely low reward (as a function of cost and utility).


Sure, but it's easy to fuck up too and the consequences are high. You're gambling with your home and most insurance won't cover DIY electrical work.


> most insurance won't cover DIY electrical work

You have a good source for this? I see claims like this every time a discussion of this sort and they rarely come with any citations.


No. It looks like you're totally right and the information I've shared is misleading, so let me do my best to correct that:

Insurance will pay out, provided electrical fires are covered by your policy.

They will then do their best to assign liability and pursue subrogation. If you did the work yourself, you're liable. If you're insured for that work, they'll come after your insurer. If you're not, they'll come after you. If your work is permitted and to code, you'll probably be fine, if not, good luck!

So it looks like you're correct! Unlicensed work appears to be covered, but you may paid AND sued.


You would probably have a heart attack if you saw all the watering trough heaters I have running from a single outside outlet all winter :-)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: