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About Ivan Ramirez
Expertise
I am a good communicator and often I am tasked with translating the technical electrical wording to something a customer can understand. Hopefully I can accomplish this in this forum also. I will work hard at giving you a practical answer that you can use to solve or answer you question. I will try to avoid the obligatory 'call an electrician' answer, but sometimes that is really the only thing that can solve the problem. And while I don't discourage people from attempting to solve an electrical problem; everyone should know that mistakes in wiring can have deadly consequences. Therefore, you can always help me by giving me an idea of your skill level since I will always aim to err on the side of caution.

Experience
I am a third generation electrician wiht 14 years experience. I have worked my whole life in Dallas Texas. I graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor of science. I have worked in residential and commercial settings and I often interact with customers and coordinate other electricians. I currently work as an electrical estimator.

Education/Credentials
master electrician licence certified by southern building code congress international. BS in biology minor in math from university of texas at arlington

Awards and Honors
graduated cum laude U. texas arlinton

You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Electrical Wiring in the Home > converting 220V circuit to two 110V circuits

Electrical Wiring in the Home - converting 220V circuit to two 110V circuits

Expert: Ivan Ramirez - 1/10/2008

Question
I have an unused 220V circuit, formerly for a dryer. How can I convert it to two 110V circuits? I prefer to make the conversion at the receptacle end of the existing circuit instead of at the service panel.

Answer
I generally try to discourage people from trying to do this because it can lead to some confusion in the future. The best thing to do is eliminate the old circuit and you can install new ones. Sometime your old dryer wire does not have a ground wire and you should have a ground wire for general plugs.

Sometimes it does save some work because the wire already goes to the panel. In this case you have to replace the 30 amp two pole breaker with two single pole 20 or 15 amp breakers. when you splice to the old 10-3 in the junction box, you can use two 12-2 wires. All of the grounds go together, all of the whites go together, and one hot of the 12-2 will go to one of the two hot wires of the 10-3, the other hot from the other 12-2 will go to the second hot of the 10-3. Essentially you have two circuits with a shared neutral.
Good Luck. -Ivan Ramirez

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This site answers questions related to home electrical wiring, home wiring, general electrical help,and other electrical questions related to aleternating current (AC). You can find help on the National Electical Code, home electrical issues, wiring electrical outlets, installing lighting, electrical grounding, and general electrical help for do-it-yourself projects not require an electrician. If you do not see your home electrical wiring question answered in this area then please ask your electrical wiring question here