Avoid 'shocking consequences': Hire an electrician
By Barry Stone, Tuesday, August 9, 2011. Inman News™

DEAR BARRY: Are the electrical wires in a home color-coded for positive, negative and ground? Our wires are brown, blue and green/yellow. Which ones should we connect to which screws? --Agatha

DEAR AGATHA: Assumptions should never be made when electrical safety is involved. Have an electrician verify the color coding. Residential wiring is typically black for hot, white for neutral, and green or noninsulated for ground.

Yours is different because the person who wired your home used materials commonly found in commercial electrical systems. Typical color coding for commercial wiring is brown for hot, blue for neutral, and green/yellow for ground.

Rather than connecting the wires yourself, have the electrician do the work. With electrical wiring, there is often one way to do it right and many ways to do it wrong. The cost of an electrician could spare you from shocking consequences.