The connections for a switched outlet also known as a half hot plug. For wiring in series the terminal screws are the means for passing voltage from one receptacle to another.
How To Wire A Switched Outlet With Wiring Diagrams
Outlet wiring diagram. Dont use this receptacle when no ground wire is available. This is a standard 15 amp 120 volt wall receptacle outlet wiring diagram. This wiring diagram depicts the electrical power from the circuit breaker panel entering the switched electrical receptacle outlet box where a two wire cable goes to the switch and another two wire cable feeds power to another outlet that is live at all times. The diagram shows the power entering into the circuit at the switch box location then sending one power line for the outlet which is hot all the time and a switched leg for the top half of the outlet being used for a table lamp or a floor. The switched outlet wiring configurations show two different wiring scenarios which are most commonly used. This repeats until the end of the chain.
The wiring and connections will depend on where the power enters the circuit. The black wire line and white neutral connect to the receptacle terminals and another 2 wire nm that travels to the next receptacle. Wiring diagram for multiple outlets this diagram shows the wiring for multiple receptacles in an arrangement that connects each individually to the source. To wire multiple outlets follow the circuit diagrams posted in this article. A grounded contact at the bottom center is crescent shaped. Multiple outlet in serie wiring diagram.
This is a polarized device. All wires are spliced to a pigtail which is connected to each device separate from all the others in the row. Electrical outlet boxes can have numerous nm cables going in and out. In the diagram below a 2 wire nm cable supplies line voltage from the electrical panel to the first receptacle outlet box. Diagrams shown on this page are simplified for clarity. See actual switch box wiring diagram.
Any break or malfunction in one outlet will cause all the other outlets to fail. The long slot on the left is the neutral contact and the short slot is the hot contact.

















