Whenever we need to need how many amps a wire can handle, we turn to the NEC 310.16 table. The 310.16 table is basically an ampacity chart; it tells us what is the ampacity of copper and aluminum wires. The full name for this table is “Table 310.16 Ampacities of Insulated Conductors with Not More … Read more
310.12 NEC table discusses copper and aluminum wire sizes for 100 amp to 400 amp services and feeders. This relates to most households (National Electrical Code refers to homes using these terms: one-family dwellings, 2-family dwellings, and multifamily dwellings). Namely, the NEC section 310.12 includes these 5 distinct parts: Tabel 310.12 Single-Phase Dwelling Services and … Read more
Wire size can be expressed as both gauge number (American Wire Gauge or AWG) or circular mils. In many cases, we will have to convert AWG to circular mils. To help you out, we will look into AWG to circular mils formula to show how the conversion is made. Further on, you will also find … Read more
On many thermostats, you will find a W2 terminal. There is quite a lot of confusion about what is this W2 wire on a thermostat; namely, what is that W2 wire supposed to power. To help everybody out, we are going to explain exactly what the W2 wire thermostat is. Note: You will connect a … Read more
The thermostat wiring is a bit complicated. The 1st thing everybody has to learn is what each thermostat wire color means. To help you get started, we have prepared a full thermostat wiring color code (we’ll go wire-by-wire color-by-color for blue wire or black wire (C wires), orange wire, yellow wire, red wire, white wire, … Read more
“My thermostat says heat on but no heat. What’s the problem? How to get the heat back on?” This is one of the most frustrating thermostat issues in the winter. You do everything right; set the heat “ON” on the thermostat but no heat comes from the furnace. We will look into all 14 common … Read more
These ground wire sizes are notoriously difficult to figure out. If you are looking for the ground wire size for 100 amp service, you may see some conflicting wire sizes; from as little as 10 AWG to as big as 00 AWG. To help everybody out, we are going to show exactly how you can … Read more
All ground wires have to meet minimum ampacity criteria. That, of course, is also true of 200 amp ground wire. We are going to look into what size ground wire you need for a 200 amp service. On top of that, we will show you how you can figure out ground wire size for any … Read more
When it comes to wires, there is quite a lot of confusion. Especially regarding the acronyms. Case and point: What is a THWN wire? What is the difference between THHN and THWN wire? Let’s address both of these questions to get a little clearer vision about wires. THWN stands for Thermoplastic Heat and Water-resistant Nylon-coated … Read more
Let’s say you want to calculate the wire resistance. Every wire conducts electricity but this conduction is not 100% effective. A bit of electricity is lost in the wire. How much exactly? We will show you how to determine wire resistance manually and using the Wire Resistance Calculator below (just input the wire gauge and … Read more