Standard House Wire Gauge

In the us most of the wiring for electric circuits inside homes is 12 or 14 gauge.

Standard house wire gauge. This is very common now a days rather than running 14 gauge. Check the breaker that serves the circuit in question. The basis of the system is the mil or 0 001 inches. If you re wiring a circuit on which there are both lights and outlets or you just aren t sure which wire gauge to use you can t go wrong by choosing a 12 gauge wire.

The imperial standard wire gauge which has been sanctioned by the british board of trade was formulated by j. Following one of its recommendations it differs from pre existing gauges scarcely more than they differ among themselves and is based on a rational system the basis being the circular mil. Table 2 copper ground wire gauge. What i mean is that the wire should always be sized for the circuit whether it is a 15 amp circuit or a 60 amp circuit.

Awg american wire gauge and circular mils. Low voltage wires typically are insulated and may be contained in cable sheathing or combined in twisted pairs similar to lamp cord wire. Wire sizes range from about 22 gauge to 12 gauge. The wire coming in.

Several common types are landscape lighting wire sprinkler system connections bell wire for doorbells speaker system wires and thermostat wires. 14ga is adequate for a 15a circuit 12 is required for a 20a circuit but the cost difference is so small that i d recommend always using 12ga. Imperial wire gauge or british standard gauge use of swg sizes has fallen greatly in popularity but is still used as a measure of thickness in guitar strings and some electrical wire. Bear in mind that nothing is standard except for the wire sizing requirements.

British standard wire gauge is a set of wire sizes given by bs 3737 1964 now withdrawn and is generally abbreviated to swg. It is also known as. This number follows gauge. Your air conditioner or electric stove would fall into this category.

The table below list some common wire types and rated amperage for wiring a house. In addition to romex wiring a house also requires a few larger gauge wires for high power appliances. The standard is now withdrawn. For example 14 2 indicates that there are two 14 gauge wires a ground wire if part of the cable is not included in this number within the cable.

The standard wire gauge swg series commonly used in great britain were given in bs 3737. Choosing the correct wire gauge within your home wires that run from the electrical distribution panel load center to various appliances and electrical outlets receptacles is crucial. As jim said 14 gauge is good for 15 amps and 12 gauge is good for 20 amps.