Should you pigtail your electrical outlets? The answer might surprise you.

In this video we'll discuss when and why you should you pigtail your electrical outlets and when the through wire method may be a good choice.

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Thanks for watching.

[BackyardMaine]

Hello everyone. I have some new info about the channel. My electrical #shorts have been getting millions of views so I have decided to start doing longer electrical videos. The plan is to post one five minute electrical video every week. Let me know what you think? Thanks for supporting the Channel (John).

[stevenbullock]

I'm a retired electrician of over 40 years. Depending on the application, I use both methods. The only thing I will never do is use the push-in connections on the back. I've replaced way too many that were wired that way where the wires fall right out of the back- including the home I'm in now.

[mikeheller]

I do electrical work for Habitat for Humanity. In building new homes, we always pig-tail, since that allows us to easily do a continuity check from the panel to the last outlet on a circuit BEFORE the sheetrock goes up -- has saved us tons of time fixing a wiring error, an over-enthusiastic staple, etc. when it's still easy to do.

[trevorkolmatycki]

This is interesting: Most people condemn back stabbing receptacles… and there have been failures so rightfully so. Majority of the same people will use wagos and/or push fit connectors. Both are the same type of connection, just like a back stab.
So the problem isn’t back stabbing, the problem is poor quality products. Imagine your quality 4 port wago or quality push fit connector built right into the receptacle… with internal solid bus tap to feed the receptacle… this would be very space efficient and lightning fast to install. But… most people would shun it because “backstab bad”. When in reality the problem is “cheap crap receptacles bad.”
BTW this was the best discussion of pigtail vs daisy-chain I have heard yet… Subscribed!
Cheers!

[coriding]

Great video! Another good reason to pigtail is that it makes the receptacle much easier to swap in the future. You only have 3 screws to worry about, instead of 5. Not a huge deal, but any time I swap ones that aren't pigtailed, I always change it to a pigtail connection. I like to leave things better than I found them.

[Oldhogleg]

One of the things I like about pigtailing is that it allows you to prewire everything. Makes for real quick and easy to install devices.

[haroldgreen]

The main reason for pig tailing in commercial work is so you can remove a device without breaking the circuit. Especially true on multi wire branch circuits where even if you shut off the device circuit you still have a neutral in use by another circuit and it can be dangerous to break it.

[illestofdemall]

I always pigtail mine. From experience I can say that when non pigtailed receptacles fail, it's a pain to chase down the problem because several other receptacles downstream of it are also out.

[uxwbill]

I had always used the through wire connections until I took a basic electrical class as I went through an HVAC/R program. The HVAC instructor saw me through wiring and stopped the class for a moment to point out that while what I was doing was completely legal and allowed, the idea of all that current flowing through those little tabs made him uncomfortable. That was how I learned about pigtailing.

Ever since, I've almost universally done the pigtailing thing and found myself liking it better. When I rewired an old house recently, I reused some of the old steel junction boxes. Of course, they're smaller than the new ones and I soon found there just wasn't room to pigtail most of the time...so back to through wiring it was!

I've never used those push in connections, as I've seen too many of them pop free when replacing failed switches or worn outlets.

[dantigar]

The clarity of your presentations, backed by the NEC code book, make your videos top notch. It's nice to refresh my knowledge now and then. New subscriber, long time electrical apprentice, (retired).

[martingo]

As a truck driver always wanted to become an electrician, these videos are great..😊
I've learned so much.

[ericnortan]

Master electrician, 30 years in the trade. I pigtail every device (except gfci).

[cherrypieforbreakfast]

After chasing down a few receptacle problems in my rental properties over the years (which were, of course, all back stabbed) I started pigtailing everything when renovating my houses. Never had a problem since.

[jonnybravo]

Just had to replace a receptacle in my bedroom, hooked a window ac to it and it quit working after a couple days. Flipped the breaker, took it out to inspect and come to find out whoever did the electrical on my house used recepticals that ONLY have back stab connections, the only screw on the unit was for the ground wire. Now my summer project is to go room by room and upgrade every single outlet in the home to a higher quality receptacle and eliminate all back stabbed connections. It was incredibly frustrating because that outlet is tied to two other outlets as well as the light switch so one outlet being bad means the whole room loses power. However i did not pigtail, I wired directly to the screws on the receptacle because that was how my dad taught me to do it years ago. I'll definitely be considering pigtails for future installations though. Thanks for the video

[beenschmokin]

The "problem" with pig tail option in residential is that the boxes are not designed for pig tails so getting the wire into the box often causes more hazard by overcrowding. That's the only down side I can see. Both work and neither is better. It's application. Good video.

[deej]

I'm commenting at only 1:30 into the video, but here's why I pigtail. Two basic reasons. One, it's a lot easier to push the receptacle back in the box with only two wires on it, and two, if the plug fails, with a pigtail you would not lose power down the line. Ok back to the video. Lets see what else I can learn. Edit: I did learn a few things, this guy is awesome!

[mondavou]

I like the clean presentation. I'm DIY and this is exactly the type of questions I wrestle with and since I have no real world experience, its the information I need. New Sub.

[jenniferrabuchin]

Thanks for your videos! well presented information. I work for a building department, and we've had this discussion before. IMO pigtails are better. My mom called me up once to say all of the plugs one one side of the house had gone dead including the one for her refrigerator. Checked it out, and a recep upstream on the circuit had burned up, causing all the downstream plugs to lose power. So I recommend that people use pigtails to wire their plugs. Thanks again, take care

[TheBenjammin]

I do apartment maintenance. I replace every outlet in every apartment I turn because the electrician that originally did the wiring backstabbed every outlet. I only use commercial grade outlets because they take less time to wire and I never pigtail. Never had a problem.

[doctorwu]

I am not an electrician but love to do my own electrical jobs (within reason) around the house and business, I do know my limitations! I really like your professional and common sense approach to teaching about electrical issues and don’t take the ‘it’s my way or the highway opinion’. Some electricians get really emotional and butt hurt when they are called out or shown a better way to do things. You have a really good and informative channel. 😊