The Right Wire for the Right Job

The Right Wire for the Right Job

In a past column I discussed some plumbing issues, and I reminded my readers that I am not a plumbing expert. In today’s column I want to discuss the dangers of using the wrong electrical wire in certain instances and I again must say that I am not an electrician or an electrical expert. I say that up front about plumbing and electrical specifically because these are areas of such great importance around your home, areas that can be both dangerous and costly.

With all things in renovation and repair you must do your homework before you start any major project in the house. I have seen and heard so many different opinions and perceptions about electrical wiring in the home that I felt I had to write a bit about it. I am going to focus mainly on the size and application of wiring and the breakers that are used in a typical house. One of the most mis-understood things about breakers and wiring is this; if you overload a wire it can and will burn and burn whatever is around it. The building codes and electrical standards set by the industry are very, very specific when it comes to this issue:

14-gauge wire should never carry more than 15 Amps of current.
12-gauge wire should never carry more than 20 Amps of current.
10-gauge wire should never carry more than 30 Amps of current.
8-gauge wire should never carry more than 40 Amps of current.

If you put more than the recommended load on a wire it will overheat and eventually burn, plain and simple. It will burn and set fire to whatever is near it. It may be a nuisance or an expense to re-wire a room or several rooms but it’s better than burning your house down or worse hurting your family.

You hear a lot of different terms mentioned whenever someone talks about electrical stuff, like amps, voltage and watts or kilowatts. Basically it all starts with voltage, the potential energy of the electrical system in your home. Your home has what they call a 120/240-volt system coming in at the meter box attached to the side of your house. Electrical voltage is like water pressure, you will have potentially 60 to 70 psi, or pounds per square inch of water pressure at the main valve, and you will have up to 240 volts of potential electrical “pressure”, or power, at the meter.

Amps are used to describe the “current” or flow of electricity as it flows through the wires and into your lights, plugs and appliances. Just as water has to flow through your house to the various outlets and taps electricity, in the form of amps, has to flow too. The biggest difference between them is that electrical flow has to be marshaled, or restricted, so as not to cause damage. That is why there are breakers in the home and the electrical panels they are installed in. Each breaker is sized in such a way to allow for the flow of a specific current, or number of amps. The size of the wire, not unlike water pipe, needs to be exactly the right size to carry the current or it will overheat. If you put a 14 gauge wire on a 20-amp breaker and then run an electric water heater or an air conditioner at the other end the wire will overheat and could burn. The breaker may trip first, but not in every instance.

It’s important to know that you should never, ever, bend the rules when it comes to electricity. If a water pipe bursts you’ll have a flood, water damage, perhaps substantial costs, but it’s doubtful you or your family would be injured or die. If you overload electrical wiring, especially in an older home that could already have inadequate safety measures in place you won’t have the same chances.

Do your homework, spend the extra money, use GFCI breakers and plugs where needed and always use the right gauge of wire with the right breaker. Get advice, use professionals, and don’t take chances, I like you too much.

Together we can all learn a lot from our research and from the guys and girls who know this stuff, I know because I ask them for help every day when I’m faced with questions I can’t answer. I will never guess at an electrical or plumbing question and that doesn’t make me stupid just smarter.

From an article published in The Maple Ridge NEWS – October 25, 2003