Cables are a very important part of house wiring. Today I am going to share with you the best cables that you can use for house wiring. When it comes to house wiring, a lot of people ask what cable can I use to wire my house. The truth is that what determines the cable that you will use for your wiring, is the circuits and the load in that house.
I will mainly talk about the best cable in relation to their cable size that is,cross section area.
Cable for lighting.
Cable for sockets.
Cable for cooker.
Cable geyser.
Cable for lighting.
When it comes to lighting, I am talking about cables that you use to light your downlights, chandeliers, Floodlights, and outdoor lights. In general, the standard cable size for a lighting circuit is 1.5mm squared.
What is the maximum current, that can pass through a 1.5mm squared cable? It can carry a maximum current of 15A.
At times you can use a 1mm squared cable for your lighting circuits, and it can carry a maximum current of 10A. I know there are some instances where you can use a 2.5 mm squared cable for lighting.
Mostly you can find that the consumer unit or distribution board is very far from the point you want to light. To compensate for voltage drops you can use a bigger cable.
I know you might be asking ,what is the best brand for cables.It is not my intention to discuss brands for cables.
Cable for sockets or outlets.
Sockets or outlets are where you plug your home appliances like TV, Laptop, refrigerator, and many other home appliances. The standard cable size used for sockets is 2.5mm squared. It can carry a maximum of 20A.
You can use this cable to wire power circuits like Air-conditioners and Hand driers.
Cables for cooker.
Mainly for standard domestic cookers, 6mm squared cable is used.This cable can carry up to 40A current.
Cables for geyser or shower.
The standard cable size for a geyser circuit is 4mm squared. It can carry a maximum current of 32a. It must be noted here that some power circuits use 4mm squared cables. The particular power circuit will determine whether to use a 2.5 mm squared cable or a 4mm squared.
Service cable.
What is a service cable? This is a cable that is used by a utility company to supply you with electricity. There is basically two commonly used method to supply electricity to your home. One is the use of overhead lines and the other being the underground system.
What is the difference between these two methods? In the overhead system, the supply cable is visible, you can see it, poles are widely used to supply electricity. Whereas in the underground system, the supply cable is usually not visible trenches and manholes are used to supply electricity.
The cable size in millimeters is either 10mm squared or 16mm squared cable. This is different from regions and countries. You should always consult your local or national recommended standards.
Cable wiring
This is a process that you take to install cables in a building. I am going to share with you the process that I personally use. I am going to show you how I do wiring works, mostly using conduit pipes. At this point, I assume that you have already done your tubing works.
Tubing is simply the act of installing conduit pipes in a house in preparation to do electrical wiring works, that is putting cables in the conduit pipes.
The first thing that I do is to procure all the cables that I need for the entire works. Secondly, I make sure that I have the necessary tools to complete the job.
Tools that you need to do cable wiring.
- A pliers
- Screw drive
- Insulation tape
- Block connectors
- Fishing tape
The above-mentioned tools are the basic tools that you should have to do cable wiring. The fishing tape is the most important tool in the wiring. You use the fish tape to fish in the cables into the conduit pipes.
Here is how I do it. I put the fishing tape at one point, which is either at a junction box or at a socket outlet point. Push it through to the next junction box or socket outlet. When one end of the tape reaches the other point, I get my cables and hook them to the fishing tape.
Then I ask the other person stationed at the other point to start pulling the tape .as he is pulling the tape, the cables are being pushed into the conduit pipes. When the cables reach the other point, you remove them from the fishing tape. You repeat the same process until all the conduit pipes are filled with cables.
I would like to mention that when you are putting cables in conduit pipes, you should avoid making cable joints inside the conduit pipe. In lighting circuits, make your joints in the light points and switches. This practice makes maintenance easier.
When you make joints in power circuits,sockets outlets,you make joints in the socket outlets.
Cable hiding ideas.
Of course, putting cables in conduit pipes is one way of hiding cables. The other way you can hide cables is by using trunkings and cable trays. Mostly in domestic house wiring, you do not use cable trays, you use conduits and trunking.
This trunking can either be PVC or metal. You use PVC trunking indoors while metal can be used both indoors and outside the buildings. The reason for not using PVC outside the building is that in areas where there is a lot of sunlight, PVC trunking is easily damaged.
What is the best cable for house wiring?
There is actually no best cable for house wiring. The only thing that is important is to use a cable that meets the standards made by both international and national regulators. I know most people are more inclined to talk about brands. I know a lot of brands have made a name for themselves. I have found out that at times some cable brands that are new on the market, are equally good. Therefore, the guiding factor in choosing a correct cable is using a cable that meets the set standards.
Otherwise, this is my personal observation based on my years of experience working in the electrical house wiring industry. What is your personal experience working with electrical cables, for house wiring? What have you observed in respect of electrical cables for house wiring?
