The Building

Electrical Wiring

There are fifteen electrical circuits in the miniature house. These circuits were laid out when the architectural plans were drawn and designed so that the ceiling fixtures were always on a different circuit than the table lamps in any room. As in the real house, the electrical outlets are on the floor and not, as in modern houses, on the walls or baseboard moldings.

The circuits consist of a 6 volt 30 watt transformer mounted on the underside of the base. All the wires have been routed through the main chimney chase up to the attic where model railroad switches are mounted. The electrical circuits are protected with a 5 amp fuse mounted on the low voltage side of the transformer. This transformer can safely handle up to thirty miniature lights at one time. Since all the wiring in the house is only 6 volts it can be safely handled by a child.

Grooves were routed on the underside of the first floor, the underside of the second floor (which was the ceiling for the first floor) and in the walls for wall mounted sconces. The wiring was then laid out in the grooves, checked for continuity, covered with spackle to keep them in place and protect them from corrosion and finally the spackle was sanded to a smooth finish flush with the walls. An important advantage of this process is that if a short circuit should develop at a later time, the wires can be easily uncovered by simply soaking the spackle with water to soften it and the wires can be inspected, repaired or replaced as needed. The spackle is easily replaced and the ceiling as easily repainted. If the short is on a wall sconce fixture it can be replaced and new wallpaper can be printed and hung.

Click on photograph to enlarge

When the miniature house was completed and all the lighting in place, it was discovered that two of the first floor circuits were shorting out. The dollhouse had to be completely disassembled, the spackle removed and the wires checked for continuity. It was found that the short was in the miniature electrical outlets and not in the wiring. The outlets were then replaced. Shown in the photograph is the underside of the first floor where the spackle was removed and the wires uncovered. The wires were then given a continuity check with a voltmeter. If you look carefully at the enlarged photograph, you can see, in the far corners, the 1" diameter centering posts that fit into the base to properly position the first floor.
The second photograph shows a different view. The wires are temporally held in place with masking tape while the continuity check is made. One may also note that all the wires lead to the main chimney chase which is behind the kitchen fireplace.
The next photograph shows the final continuity check which consisted of plugging a light into the electrical outlet to see if it worked. One of the model railroad switches is also part of the circuit check.
After the continuity check is satisfactorily made to the exposed connections, the wire was coated with liquid electrical tape to protect the connections from corrosion. The wires were then placed into the routed grooves and spackle was reapplied.
The photograph on the right shows the wires being attached to the model railroad switches in the attic. Each wire is color coded (black and white) and each circuit is numbered with an attached tag so that it could later be properly identified.
The photograph on the right shows the wiring to the sconces in the bathroom and on the wall to the right, the sconce in the computer room. Spackle has been applied to cover the wires and sanded flush with the wall and readied for a prime coat of paint before the wainscoting was installed and the wall paper applied.
The photograph on the right shows a close up view of the electrical outlet mounted in the floor of the upstairs guest bedroom. All outlets are positioned exactly where the real outlet are located.
This photograph shows where the wall sconces will be mounted in the front hall as you enter the house opposite the front door. The wallpaper is shown already in place and ready for the sconces to be plugged in.

Web site designed by Eve and Olof Anderson (Catnip Graphics).

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