- You know you have a 20 amp single or duplex electrical outlet if the left plug-in slot is sideways, giving the two main plug holes a T-shaped look, with the ground plug hole on the bottom. They should be wired with 12-gauge wire from the circuit breaker or from the previous outlet if they are part of a series. All of these outlets will have screw-type wire attachments on the side of the outlets. Some will have both screws-type and push-in self-locking wire attachments on the rear of the outlet. Since the outlets are designed to work with 12-gauge wire, the smaller 14-gauge wire (used in 15 amp circuits) may not fit securely in the self-locking wire attachments. When attaching the 14-gauge wire, use the screw attachments.
- Grounding, even on light fixtures, is important. When you remove the 20 amp receptacle from the electrical box, be sure to securely connect the bare ground wire. Attach the new ground wire to the original ground wires with a wire nut. If one is already present because the outlet is part of a series, simply remove the wire nut, insert the new ground wire and replace it. If the outlet was at the end of the series, remove the ground wire from where it connects to the outlet, connect the old ground wire, the new ground wire and 4-inch length 12-gauge wire as a jumper with a wire nut, then attach the jumper to the ground screw.
- When connecting the 14-gauge wire to the 20 amp outlet, attach the white wire to one of the silver colored wire connector screws, attach the black wire to one of the brass colored wire connector screws. Which screw doesn't matter, unless the outlet feeding power to the new light is a GFI outlet. If this is the case, connect the 14-gauge, black wire to the "power-in" brass colored screw which will by-pass the GFI feature. If the GFI isn't by-passed, turning on the light, especially if it's a multi-bulb fluorescent fixture, can trip the GFI circuit breaker.
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