Stack exchange network stack exchange network consists of 177 qa communities including stack overflow the largest most trusted online community for developers to learn share their knowledge and build their careers. The common wire is normally the white wire at least in the united states and is often called the neutral wire.
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What is the common wire. Why a common wire. Regarding thermostats one thing you do have direct control over relates to a single wire called the c or common wire. R wire red for power. Standard wiring design in us. A common wire is either a connecting wire or a type of neutral wiring depending on the electrical circuit. Simply remove your current thermostat face from its baseplate and look for the terminal labeled with the letter c if this terminal has a wire attached to it you have an active c wire.
Traditional hvac wiring in homes uses four or more wires one of which is called the common wire or c wire. What is the common wire in electrical wiring. Contrary to its name the c wire isnt actually all that common. Location does not matter. The term common is applied to the conductor that is used in any configuration of the circuit. The basics layout of a typical home wiring system is.
Technically speaking power flows from the r red wire but not continuously not on its own anyway. Thermostats can get this constant power through a common wire or c wire it is easy to see if you already have a c wire connected to your system. The c wire or common wire enables the continuous flow of 24 vac power to the thermostat. G wire green for a fan. Homes involves a neutral wire at the ground potential and two hot wires of 120 volts each. When the circuit is complete 24v energy will flow continuously.
It is easy to confuse common with the neutral wire and in many cases this is true. When it works as a connecting wire the wire connects at least two wires of a circuit together. To make it continuous requires a common wire to complete the circuit. The common wire is the only wire that needs to be attached to a particular screw often the dark one on the 2 way switch. While the common wire must be connected in a specific location on the two way switch the traveler wires may be connected to either of the remaining terminals. Is that white or black wire.
Its also called common because all circuits in the house typically have the white wires tied together which means every circuit has that wire in common.
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