What would most likely happen if you wired in an oven the wrong way, ie double positive, or double negative, or positive to negative and negative to positive?
Wiring – Can you break an oven with wrong wiring
ovenwiring
Related Solutions
Assuming both the original and replacement were both standard incandescent oven lamps, then there is no problem installing a lower wattage other than less light. Do double check your new bulb is for the correct voltage for your area. If you bought it locally, it should be. If you mail ordered it, and you live in a 220v area, you may have gotten a 120v lamp. Putting a 220v lamp in a 120v socket would be harmless, though a very dim light source.
Even though heating elements and supply for ovens are often double the normal mains voltage, all ovens I've had experience with have the ancillary things like clocks and lights running off normal mains voltage.
Static shock is easily distinguishable from mains current. With static shock you first get a tiny little spark (which may not be visible, but feels like one) and then nothing if you continue touching the surface. Mains power throbs at 50 or 60 cycles per second, and there is not usually any spark between you and the conductor, and current continues as long as you are in contact. While mains power can kill at full strength, stray currents can be small enough to just be unpleasant, but still an unsafe situation that must be rectified immediately.
In some places it is illegal to run hidden power cables horizontally across walls unless they are within a specific short distance from floor or ceiling.
For example, in the UK I believe all power cables to/from a mid-wall switch must run vertically to or until near the floor/ceiling.
So, the answer may depend where you live.
Reference: IET cables in walls
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Best Answer
In the US, regular lights and outlets use 120VAC, and large appliances run on 240VAC. Some large appliances need both 120VAC and 240VAC, and they will use 3 or 2 wires respectively.
For a 240VAC only appliance, you will have two colored wires which are typically red and black. There will be two screws on the appliance, and it doesn't matter which wire goes to which screw (there will also be a bare ground wire and associated screw, but I'm leaving that out of the discussion). The two wires are both "hot" (not positive or negative) and have a voltage of 240VAC between them and you really can't hook it up wrong.
Other appliances need 120VAC and 240VAC. For instance, newer ovens might use 120v for their electronic displays, lights, and controls, but the main heating elements will run on 240v. These appliances need three wires which are typically colored red, white and black. The white is referred to as "common" and it must be connected to the correct screw. The voltage between red and white and black and white is 120v, but the voltage between red and black is 240v. Red and black are interchangeable.
If you happened to connect the red to the "red" terminal (terminal meant for the red wire - it probably won't be red...) and black to the "common" terminal, you would be supplying 240v to a part of the appliance that needed 120v, and something would break. You would hope that a fuse or something easily replaceable would break, but there's no guarantees. The oven could be cooked.