How to select the best wire for your home/office?

 How to select the best wire for your home/office?

Do you remember when was the last time you tried to change the wiring that needed some work instead of calling an electrician? Hardly anyone does. But if we are in a situation where outside help is unavailable then you should learn how to do it yourself instead of being just stuck helpless. This can also help us to work on a project we have at home or elsewhere and not just fixing the broken. And most of us have no idea what to do or what to look for while in the store. So let us educate ourselves in case we need to help ourselves.

Some of the common questions that need to be answered before narrowing down the options regarding the cable manufacturers are quite basic but can sound handful for beginners. What type of outlet and wire ends you need? Is it for an underground feed or wall wiring? What size do you need? Is colour important? Does your preferred electrical cable manufacturer produce the type of wire that suits your needs?

These questions can be easily answered with some common knowledge so lets jump right into it.

Some of the common wire sizes are 10, 12, 14 gauges. The larger the gauge of a wire is, the smaller the wire is. The size of the wire is directly related to the voltage or ampere that it can withstand. For instance, a low-voltage lamp cord with 10 Amps will require an 18-gauge wire, while service panels or sub-panels with 100 Amps will require 2-gauge wire. Keep in mind, not all manufacturers make all the different varieties which could affect your decision significantly.

Wire often have lettering on them and this is not related to their manufacturer, rather it signifies the amount of insulation that it has. These insulations may be from weather, temperature, fluids, corrosion, nylon coating among other things.

Now let us talk about the various type of wires. Some of the most common household or general-purpose wires are twisted, feeder lines, feed wires, sheathed wires and single-strand wires to name a few and these are usually available by lots of electrical cable manufacturers.

Speaking of types, now we should talk about the colour codes of different kinds of wires. Black colour code is used to denote hot wires which are usually used for switches. Red colour denotes hot wire for switch legs. Blue and yellow coded wired are usually pulled in conduit. White wires are always kept neutral while bare copper or green wires are used to signify ground wires only.

When selecting the wire, you must keep in mind that type of load and specifications the particular wire can operate under to avoid any sort of a hazard. For example, while choosing the wire for your office, you should not only look at the type of insulation that you might need in your work environment, whether it will be exposed or not but also consider the voltage and load that the wire can tolerate and work as expected. On the other hand, general, household needs for power draw are quite less as compared to corporate setups. Another distinct thing about household and office environments is that usually office wiring is split into many more lines while households are not as divided and sometimes draw power from separate lines which is something that a few electrical cable manufacturer specialize in.