Whether you are visiting, renting or buying a house in Mexico, you probably have questions and concerns about the electricity. I have lived in San Miguel de Allende now for 15 years – rewired two houses, and assisted with the electrical design and installation in a new house. I think I have seen the best and worst of electrical wiring here.
Our first house in Mexico was about 30 years old and the wiring was not right. Actually, it worked fine, but it looked awful with exposed cables, broken outlets and switches, huge knife switches for disconnects and really ugly sub-panels. Looking behind some of the wall plates revealed more horror. Most of the conductors were green, but none of them were earth grounds. Fixing all this got me started, and I kept records and photos along the way thinking that what I did might be of use to other gringos who had time on their hands and a desire to live in an electrically safer and tidier home in Mexico.
Our second Mexican house was newer and appeared to be wired more to US standards. It had grounded outlets which tested correctly using a 3-light plug-in tester, and the devices were all the more modern Decora style. But further checking revealed that this house also was not wired correctly and that the simple testers do not always tell the truth. So another house was rewired.
I then got involved in the construction of a new house as a joint project with a local architect/builder. We wanted a house that came close to US standards but was built using standard Mexican masonry type construction. The electrical specifications and drawings for this house are provided as part of the book, and may be used for any new house construction.
I wrote this all up into a book which is available as a downloadable PDF. I was assisted by Charles Miller in the Low Voltage chapter. The book is called A Gringo’s Guide to Mexican Wiring and runs some 170 pages. It contains 146 figures and 17 tables. Topics covered include:
- Similarities and differences between US and Mexican residential wiring: voltages, phases, grounding, conductors, conduits, boxes and rings, fusing, outlets and switches, 3-way circuits
- How to trace circuits
- Upgrading existing wiring: switches and outlets, GFCI’s, grounding, surge and brownout protection, main and subpanel replacement, LED selection, multiple meters
- Low voltage wiring: wired vs wireless, internet, telephone, doorbell/intercom, television
- New construction: device selection, sample specifications, sample electrical plans
- Remodeling: many examples showing circuit tracing, problem diagnosis, step by step changes
For several years the book was sold for $10 through this website, but is now available free of charge. However, if you find it useful, you are welcome to make a contribution via PayPal that will be used to maintain this website. Any amount is appreciated.
Download the book here.
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