5 Types Of Wires In Your Loudoun County Home
Romex |
The most commonly used wire brand is Romex when it comes to wiring your home. The sizes of common Romex (along with their maximum ampacity rating are given below:
(A mention of the low voltage wires for your home are mentioned below this section.)
|
There is an 8/2 and 8/3 Romex brand wire, but this particular wire is very rarely used and hard
to find.
to find.
UF (Underground Feed) |
Underground feed wire is the wire held by local and national code books as the wire to use in a residential dwelling whenever using wire that will travel underground or outside. This particular make of wire has a very thick outer insulation protecting the 2 - 3 conductors inside the sheathing itself. Underground feed comes in all the same sizes as the Romex wire listed above.
|
Service Entry Cable |
You will need a professional electrician to do this type of work, as the local power company will have to be involved in the actual switching on and off of the power. A permit will have to be shown to the local power company before any type of work is done.
There is a such thing as a home owner's permit, but this is highly not recommended because of the potential for harm if installed improperly. Service entry cable is also used on feeding an outside air conditioning unit as well as an indoor evaporator coil. The size of wire is dependent upon what the manufacturer has on the ampacity specs found on the 'plate' of the device. A disconnect switch is required by code as this involves the use of a motor. Again, a professional electrician or HVAC repairman should be the person responsible for the installation of these wires. |
THHN / THWN |
Though very uncommon, THHN and THWN may be used whenever conduit is ran to a box or device. If you have PVC pipe buried below ground outside to feed a garage sub panel or outside receptacles, under NEC code you may use it although the housing inspector and local code may not necessarily agree. We recommend that UF wire is used just to play it safe when it comes to this.
|
#4 AWG Bare Copper Wire / #6 AWG Bare Copper Wire |
#4 AWG bare copper wire is used to ground the plumbing pipes in your house. #6 AWG bare copper wire is used to ground the actual electric system in your house. The #6 wire travels from the ground bar inside your panel to a 6' rod which has been driven outside your house as the location where any current can safely flow to in the event of a ground fault.
|
Common Low Voltage Wires & Cables You'll Encounter Inside Your Home
The wires that are fairly common in your household that are under 120 Volts are the following:
HDMI Cable
Telephone Cable Cable TV Cable Cat 5e; Cat 6e 12-2 |
Home entertainment centers: HDTV's
Landline phone service The feed for your entertainment system Internet; Multimedia hubs; or a combination of various low voltage devices at once Deck Lighting; Outdoor wiring for low voltage lights |