Buying Electric Wire - Tips That Will Help You Take an Informed Decision

1) Check the prices - It is most likely that you will look to buy either copper or aluminum wires for your home. Copper wires are relatively costly but they take less space than aluminum wire for the same current carrying capacity. The price of the aluminum and copper fluctuate wildly. You need to be aware of these fluctuations to be able to time your buying decision well

2) Take quotes from multiple vendors – Before you finally make a purchase do make it a point to take quote from multiple vendors. About 3 to 4 quotes from various vendors should suffice the purpose. You are likely to be surprised with major differences in the quote value.

One reason for which you may find wide differences in the quote of the various vendors is their timing of purchase. While most vendors would wish to sell their inventory at the current price, but the one who has purchased at a point when copper or aluminum was at its low would be more willing to negotiate a deal. In some cases the vendor would be holding a stock which is couple of years old and if the price has significantly appreciated since then, he would be happy to push it at a discount.

3) Choosing the right size and specifications – There are multiple factors that have an impact on the specifications of the wire that you need to buy. Apart from the voltage and current to be carried, the size of the wire you need to buy would also depend on where you want to lay it. You would need a different size if the wire has to be buried in the ground, laid in a conduit or if you need to apply in the outdoors. Choosing a wire that is lower than the recommended size would harm the wire and the equipment, while buying an oversized one would hurt your pocket.

Apart from the size, wire cables are available in various variants:

NM-B Applications: These are most commonly used in residential application as these can easily run behind walls and ceilings, in floor cavities and in other unexposed areas.

Underground Feeder Cable - As the name suggests these are intended to be installed in a damp environment under the ground. These are similar to NM-B cables except that the wires are embedded in a solid thermoplastic instead of a flexible one.

Armored Cable (AC) and Metal Clad Cable - These are relatively expensive and difficult to work with and hence are not used in residential application.

Coaxial Cable - Also known as coax, these are popularly used to carry television signals.

Category 5e Cables - Popularly known as Cat-5e or Ethernet cable, these find application in telecommunications and IT. These are used for phones, connecting computer networks, and audio/video distribution systems.

Hope you found the information useful and will use it to your advantage when purchasing electrical wire.

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