Choosing the right types of electrical wire is very important for residential as well as commercial building. You should mainly consider two things when choosing the electrical wire. First is the size of electrical wire and second is the safety issue.
The size of the wire is decided by the wire gauge system. In addition to this, you should also consider the capacity of the wire and what the wire will feed.
When the wire gauge is smaller, its ampacity increases. Ampacity can be explained as the safe amount of current that a wire can handle without getting hot enough to cause a fire. Some of the popular appliances and needs found in most of the houses, their rated ampacity (within brackets) and required wire gauge have been mentioned below for your guidance.
There are few technical terms which you must know about wire. Proper plastic covered wires- called NMC or Non-Metallic Sheathed Cable- are so far considered the ideal one for indoor wiring. There are many types of such nonmetallic wires. However, the basic three of them are the NM, NMC and UF electrical wires.
For normal indoor electrical wiring like lighting and receptacle circuits, you can use NM electrical cables.
And you can use NMC electrical cables above ground or in damp areas indoors because they are well insulated and so safe to use in these areas.
UF or the underground feeder is an electrical cable which you can use outdoors beneath the ground. Such wires are sometimes not safe to use above the ground as sunlight can destroy the cable sheathing. So, restrict the use of UF wires for undergrounds only. Since wire directly concerns with safety so if you have no technical electrical knowledge then you should hire a recognized electrical company.
The size of the wire is decided by the wire gauge system. In addition to this, you should also consider the capacity of the wire and what the wire will feed.
When the wire gauge is smaller, its ampacity increases. Ampacity can be explained as the safe amount of current that a wire can handle without getting hot enough to cause a fire. Some of the popular appliances and needs found in most of the houses, their rated ampacity (within brackets) and required wire gauge have been mentioned below for your guidance.
There are few technical terms which you must know about wire. Proper plastic covered wires- called NMC or Non-Metallic Sheathed Cable- are so far considered the ideal one for indoor wiring. There are many types of such nonmetallic wires. However, the basic three of them are the NM, NMC and UF electrical wires.
For normal indoor electrical wiring like lighting and receptacle circuits, you can use NM electrical cables.
And you can use NMC electrical cables above ground or in damp areas indoors because they are well insulated and so safe to use in these areas.
UF or the underground feeder is an electrical cable which you can use outdoors beneath the ground. Such wires are sometimes not safe to use above the ground as sunlight can destroy the cable sheathing. So, restrict the use of UF wires for undergrounds only. Since wire directly concerns with safety so if you have no technical electrical knowledge then you should hire a recognized electrical company.
No comments:
Post a Comment