Is it better to use higher gauge wire?
Using larger gauge AWG wire offers you more flexibility in how your electrical system is laid out. Your electrician can add more outlets when your wiring has increased current potential. Larger wiring can sometimes be installed in risky areas where small wiring is not recommended.
Is it OK to oversize a wire?
There is nothing wrong with going with larger wire size, as long as that wire size doesn’t put you over on the conduit max fill rating. Wire sizing is basically based on heat dissipation based on how many amps will be going through the wire. Conduit max fill ratings are also based on that same heat dissipation.
Does wire length affect electricity consumption?
As your wire gets longer, the resistance of it increases. As a result, the total power dissipated in the entire circuit is going to decrease. The power dissipated in the wire itself may go up, or it may go down. If you increase the wire resistance, the total current will decrease.
What happens if you use to big of gauge wire?
using larger wire will not hurt anything or cause any overload. The larger wire will cost more, the pathway or where it has to fit, and the physical size of the connecting means (ie. the size of terminal or clamp it has to fit in), will all be determining factors in just how big is too big.
Does thicker wire increase current?
The current will flow more easily through the thick wire than the thin wire. It is because the resistance of a conductor is inversely proportional to its area of cross-section. If the thicker the wire, the less is resistance and hence more easily the current flows.
Can you use 2 wires to increase gauge?
If you twist two wires together, each would carry half the current, so you’d “effectively increase the gauge.” American Wire Gauges go down by about 10 for every factor of ten in cross-sectional area. If you had ten #20 wires connected in parallel, they could carry as much power as one #10 wire.
