Electrical cable types are essential for home improvement projects, and choosing the right wire gauge is crucial for safety. Romex is commonly used for most lighting and outlet circuits in homes, with a gauge of 10, 12, or 14 gauge. The second number indicates the wire’s ampacity, which is typically 10 or 12 gauge.
The current-carrying capacity of a wire determines its ability to safely handle amperage. In terms of home electrical wire, 14 gauge (white) wire is used for 15amp circuits, while 12 gauge (yellow) wire is used for 20amp circuits. The gauge of a wire determines its current-carrying capacity, which is the amount of amperage a wire can safely handle.
In a modern home electrical system, most wires are 12 or 14 gauge. AWG 12 is common for most regular outlets in the USA, while AWG 14 is common for larger appliances like electric stoves and water heaters. Most wiring found in homes is either 12 or 14 AWG, with 10 AWG sometimes used for heavy appliances.
The American Wire Gauge (AWG) is used for lighting circuits on a 15A breaker, while 12 AWG is used for standard outlets on a 20A breaker. 14 AWG is the standard size for many residential applications, including 15-amp lighting circuits, bedroom and office outlets, and general electrical work.
📹 How To Run Electrical Wires Through Studs
There are a few different codes and best practices you need to follow when running electrical wires (Romex) through studs.
Which wire is best for house wiring?
Individual wires, such as THHN and THWN, are commonly used for home wiring due to their resistance to heat and water. These wires are installed in conduit for added protection. Low-voltage wiring, used for applications like doorbells and security systems, is smaller in diameter and has different insulation types. Coaxial cables, primarily used for TV and internet connections, consist of a central conductor, insulation, a metal shield, and an outer jacket. They offer better signal quality and are less susceptible to interference.
When to use 14 2 vs 14 3?
A 14-3 with ground circuit comprises three wires, two hot wires (black and red), a white wire, and a ground wire. The aforementioned wiring configuration is utilized for the installation of electrical outlets and light switches. Additionally, it can be employed for the incorporation of supplementary wiring, such as that required for a ceiling fan with discrete wall-mounted switches.
What wiring is used in houses?
The Romex cable, also known as the NM cable, is the most common type of home electrical wiring. It consists of three or more individual conductors wrapped in a flexible plastic jacket. NM cables are used for dry, interior home wiring, including appliances, fixtures, switches, and outlets. They are color-coded, with the outer jacket in different colors to indicate the wire gauge. Common NM cables include 6-gauge, 55-amp circuits with black sheathing, 8-gauge, 40-amp circuits with black sheathing, 10-gauge, 30-amp circuits with orange sheathing, 12-gauge, 20-amp circuits with yellow sheathing, and 14-gauge, 15-amp circuits with white sheathing.
Can you wire a house with 14 gauge wire?
14AWG wire is a type of electrical wiring designed for standard amounts of electricity in homes and businesses. It is typically used in kitchens due to the safety of attaching multiple electrically demanding appliances to higher-capacity circuitry. The gauge of a wire, measured by the AWG (American wire gauge) standard, refers to its physical thickness. The higher the gauge number, the less thick the wire is. In summary, 14AWG wire is a versatile and reliable choice for most electrical wiring needs in homes and businesses.
Do fans need 14 3?
It is recommended that 14-gauge wire be used for a ceiling fan circuit, particularly if the fan is equipped with a light source. In the event that the fan and light are controlled by multiple switches, it is recommended that two pieces of 14-3 wire be used between the ceiling and the switch.
Is 14 gauge better than 12-gauge?
The wire gauges used in electrical projects vary depending on the voltage and current. 18-gauge is suitable for 10 amps and low-voltage lighting fixtures, while 14-gauge is for 15 amps lamps and circuits. 16-gauge is best for 13 amps extension cords. 12-gauge is suitable for various applications, including bathrooms, kitchens, outdoor receptacles, and 120-volt AC’s. 10-gauge is commonly used in electric clothes dryers, water heaters, and air conditioners.
6-gauge is best for cooktops and ranges carrying 40-50 amps, and 4-gauge is for big electric heaters protected at 60 amps. Wickwire Warehouse Inc., a leading steel strapping supplier and stainless steel wire supplier, offers high-quality materials for your electrical projects.
Is house wiring 12 or 14 gauge?
12-gauge cables are commonly used in areas with more appliances and dedicated circuits, making them a safer choice for most home applications. They are not overkill, as 20 Amp circuits and 20 Amp breakers are more popular. 12 AWG cables can be used on 15-amp outlets and breakers to minimize voltage drop. 14 AWG applications include lighting circuits, controlling light fixtures, lamps, standard room 15-amp outlets, and home automation control circuits.
What gauge wire is used for a house?
Residential wiring typically uses 14-gauge and 12-gauge wires, with larger appliances like electric stoves, water heaters, dryers, and central air units using 10, 8, or 6-gauge wires. Electrical wires can be classified into black, red, white, red, white, white, green, bare copper, and blue and yellow wires. Black wires carry live current from the service panel to devices, while red wires are secondary hot wires and should be clearly marked to avoid electrocution risks.
White and gray wires indicate neutral-charged wires, while white wires with black or red tape are hot wires. Green wires are used for grounding and should not be used for other purposes. Bare copper ground wires can also be used. Blue and yellow wires are sometimes used as hot wires and are commonly used for travelers in three-way and four-way switch applications. Most modern homes use nonmetallic (NM) cable, which consists of two more wires wrapped inside colored sheathing.
Is it okay to use 12 gauge wire on a 15 amp circuit?
It is permissible to utilise 12-gauge wires in a circuit breaker for 15 amps without any restrictions. In certain instances, it may be necessary to employ wires of a larger gauge than the standard specification in order to prevent excessive voltage drops on lengthy wire runs.
Is a 12 or 20 gauge more powerful?
The versatility of 12-gauge guns allows for versatile use in various activities, such as upland trekking, waterfowling, and sporting clay courses. Both 12 and 20 gauge loads can be effective for various purposes, with the larger 12 gauge offering more power and versatility, and the smaller 20 gauge offering better shootability. The overall winner of these categories is the most popular sporting shell of all time.
Is 14-2 wire good for lights?
The power requirements of lighting circuits are typically less than those of heavy appliances. Therefore, a 14-2 wire is an appropriate choice for use with lighting fixtures.
📹 How Many Wires Can Fit in Each Hole?
When roughing in for new residential wall rough, does it really matter how many pieces of NM cable we put into each hole drilled …
On behalf of EZ Electrical System Solutions, thank you for featuring our EZ GUARD, Scott! We wanted to make sure everyone knows that the EZ GUARD is UL listed in the U.S. (UL 2239) & Canada (CSA-C22.2 No. 18.4-15). One of the many tests the EZ GUARD was required to pass for UL certification was stopping a screw from penetrating a wire inside a wood stud. Even when a screw bites through the wood, 1/16″ thick zinc-plated steel does its job. You can take UL’s word for it! The EZ GUARD also meets & exceeds NFPA 70 National Electrical Code 300.4 (Protection Against Physical Damage). Thank you all for your warm response!
True story- working as a new construction plumber we would always install nail plates whenever our pipes were placed through studs, per code. More times than I can count I would swing by the job site for whatever reason and the drywallers would be there doing their thing. Glancing down into a trash can I would see a pile of aforementioned nail plates. Apparently (at least in my area) most drywallers remove the nail plates before installing the sheetrock. I would always take pictures just in case an issue arises later on, for legal evidence.
Elderly, retired Canadian here. I’m no longer doing a lot of home renovating, but your advice is still timely {& correct, even in my country}. I hadn’t seen the circular steel/plastic hole liners. Great idea – the nailer plates, although convenient after-the-fact {as JV below points out} they do add a thickness bump which may interfere with achieving a flat drywall surface. Tradeoffs…
I just stumbled on to your page. WOW!!, what practical, down to earth and straight forward situations you explain in such simple terms, but with supporting “code” criteria, your years of experience, and great camera angles and sketches. Your calm assuring voice and article makes me feel confident to tackle anything!! Also love tool and gear recommendations! You’re tops and can count on me as a new fan. Thanks so much, from a 77 yr old, heavy construction project mgr engineer and avid DIY’r in Salt Lake area upgrading a 1985 5,000 sf 5 split level rambler/ranch style home we bought 8 yrs ago. Love the home, just lots of work = we’re basically replacing everything except sheet rock. I have full cabinet shop,, am retired and think I can do it all!! :), but I do hire pro’s for the big stuff (roof, add 2 AC units, change out poly for pex, hard wood floors, carpet, granite counter tops, large picture windows and 4′ sink!. I do moldings, all demo/prep, we have tiled floors, added ½ bath and built 14 x 20 library for wife, 13×20 concrete patio with serpentine stairway with12 steps, etc.) Wish I’d found you earlier. But still lots to do, but now I have you as my mentor! Thanks.
I prefer drilling 5/8 in. holes for single runs of #12 and #14 NM cable – 2 or 3 wire. I have seen many times in torn out old work where larger than necessary holes were bored and the mice have used the cables like highways moving through the bored holes to get from stud cavity to cavity. When they want to make a hole a little larger they chew around it – and then chew the insulation off the cable down to bare copper. Its not that they want to eat the PVC insulation from the cable – they are just trying to make the hole a little larger. They love 1 in. holes, but I’ve never noticed that they move around stud cavities or from floor to floor when the bored holes are kept reasonably small.
As great of the idea of the EZ guard is, having that big lip on either end prevents you using them in the double top plates, or anywhere where a king and jack stud may be used, Southwire makes a similar product but has a couple of ears on one side to grip the wood, or even snap off if need be when running into a 3 or more stud scenario
Great article – I have seen so many times people dropping 2″ screws into drywall because they think it’ll hold better or what not. I like the idea of that EZ Guard, but thats a lot of force being applied prior to hitting that guard, think I would stick with a plate over that (I actually set the depth on my planer and cut the edge so my drywall doesnt push out over the plate) – also, your confidence at 0:28 drilling and that pipe on the other side is impressive, I always get overly cautious in that scenario lol
Not sure about the regulations but here in Finland the electricians that i’ve seen working seem to strive for having only vertical electrical lines going inside a wall, never horizontal and rarely going through studs. Typically going up toward the ceiling from eg. a wall outlet. I find this predictability practical.
I try to never go across studs if can reasonable help it, I come down the stud to the box back up into attic or other space back down another stud bay to a box etc. Have more issues with something hitting a wire mid bay than down next to a stud, homeowners not knowing better heck even other trades. But really like this vid showing best practices regardless.
Nailer plates are absolutely required by code. And in the decades since that they’ve been required, they’ve never saved anyone from putting a screw through romex, ever. Those little protectors do look like a nice alternative, though. Meets code, doesn’t get in the way of the drywallers. For old construction, you just use a flex bit and fish the wire, no code requirement for nailers for fished wire added later…otherwise you’d have to take half a house apart to run a new light. I do like those tri-wing stubby irwin bits, though!
Never seen those easy guards, I like them! I dislike nail plates as it creates a bump/wavy wall that is extra noticeable at the corners. In my last remodel I routed out the space for the nail guards just to make the area flat. It is also a pain when the guards are somewhere that I really need to secure the drywall but can’t now. Another issue is that if you are doing a retrofit type work and running a new wire, you likely aren’t going to cut out both sides of the drywall so one is missing a nail guard.
Under 2020 NEC code if the whole was too close to the outside of the stud nail guards are required I make it common practice to use them anywhere wires are running through a stud or raftor where drywall is going be installed that way there no chance of a screw hitting a wire and piercing it and causing a short and I never had inspector have q problem with it now most people that is over kill but if save from q potential problem later hey I’m all for it
5:08 the nail plate is otherwise excellent, but for it you have to make a recess either on the inside of the surface plate or in the wall stud, so that it does not have to support the surface plate. In addition, remember to mark its location on the outside of the board so that you don’t hit the board’s fastening screws or nails unnecessarily. So it’s not completely carefree.
The problem with the bushings is if a long screw is driven into the stud there is more than enough wood for the screw to bite well enough to drive through the metal guard tube in the center of the stud. They really don’t offer any real protection. The nail plates on the surface of the stud are much more effective because there is only drywall outside the plate which a screw could never bite into hard enough to drive through the nail plate. Btw, I’ve seen 2.5″ construction screws driven all the way into 3″ cast iron plumbing dwv pipe after being driven through 3/4″ blocking. Even 3/4″ of wood was enough to stabilize and allow the screw enough drive to penetrate 1/4″ thick cast iron pipe wall.
What is this about “inspectors”? Do inspectors regularly come and check things? Ive never had an inspector look at what Ive done in the house. This code compliance/inspector talk on youtube is really confusing to me. Of course I want to do it the right way, i am just confused as to who is going to check it?
The easy-guard is actually an invention I wanted to get a patent for about 10 years ago but it cost too much to pay for the patent so I abandoned the idea. Someone evidently thought of the same concept which I thought was baffling as to why no one had thought of it decades ago. The nail plates always leave a bump on the drywall, makes absolutely no sense to use those. good article!
Not just the City of Chicago but all the suburbs and most of the rest of Illinois require conduit. Local municipalities adopt the NEC and then delete the section involving Romex. Seems mostly universal throughout the state, even though the home centers sell it. His area must be an outlier. Having grown up using conduit for many decades I would not feel comfortable using Romex. Old habits.
Was glad to see your review on horizontal wiring protection methods. I recently used the EZ guards from Menards you reviewed on my garage project and they worked great. By using the horizontal wiring thru 2×6 studs on 12 foot side walls I saved a significant amount of 12-2 wire to place electrical receptacles around wall perimeter. Thanks for the review!
At first glance it looks like a great product. A product that protects the cable from screws/nails, and also makes pulling the cable easier. But… Is it UL Certified? Yes Is it NEC compliant? Yes For those reasons, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. Will electricians like it? Many won’t, mainly because using it would cost them some time and money. Especially those that are more interested in getting the job done fast vs it being done right.
The funny thing is here in the Netherlands you aren’t “allowed” to run wire bare in the wall they need to at least be shielded by PVC pipes. Also since the majority of the houses are brick/concrete even inside. we tend to use a metal detector if we don’t know how the electrical runs. So yeah we kinda look strange at the little safety regulations US building code has. Heck if you can’t show if a certified electrician inspected your group box handy work you are basically not insured when your house burns down.
In Belgium cables do not run horizontally. They always come from either the floor or the ceiling. Cables are also installed in a PVC tube or pre-installed in a flexible PVC pipe. Most walls here are build with bricks or concrete blocks. To install the pipes a lot of dirty work is needed using a chisel or small jackhammer. It was the work I did when I helped the certified electrician in my house. They are happy to delegate this dirty work and give a nice discount! When no bricks/blocks are used, they generally build dry walls with aluminum studs which are filled with isolation material. And again cables are put in PVC tubes that come vertically from the ceiling or the floor. These walls are used when you want to turn a big room in two smaller rooms or want the option to reorganize rooms in the future. I do not know if the vertical installation is mandated. But it makes it easy to see where you can and can’t drill holes in the wall: do not drill above or beneath a outlet and you’re safe. When you add cables later on. On the ground floor cables are usually added from the cellar (so they come from the floor). On the first floor they come from the attic (so they come from the ceiling). That is when the house has two floors of course.
Nicely explained article. It looked to me like the first hole you drilled was within 1 1/4″ of the other side of the stud. I assume that code requires that distance on both sides in case somebody put a screw in from the other side, not just the side with the drywall off.? The EZ guards are cool, but I wish they made them for a smaller hole size. I would think that a 3/4″ hole would be adequate. That’s the size hole I drill for 1/2″ EMT. I don’t like drilling out 1 1/8 inches of stud even though it meets code. I would probably use both a nailing plate AND a 3/4″ EZ guard to protect the wire really well from one side and good enough from the other. I guess you could make your own EZ guard from 1/2″ EMT except for the integrated plastic bushing. If there was space, you could make your own bushing with two EMT set screw connectors and the off the shelf plastic bushings that go with those.
Electrician. I would check with the local authority having jurisdiction for the EZ tubes, they can be fussy about new things, or love them! If this is your house, don’t let people drill long screws in that wall, it seems obvious but…no drills, only magazines in there. All the people commenting this doesn’t apply in your country…don’t do it then.
Sparky here. Only reason I clicked the article was because of the unusual thumbnail. I’ve never seen a cylindrical nail guard meant for wood studs. I’ve seen bushings for metal studs, round holes, the V shapes, etc. For practicality and needing a large 1 1/8 sized hole for it I”ll stick with the typical plates. I’ve never had an inspector insist on nail plates on an existing drywall side, but if I was considered about that being an issue I could drill closer to the exposed side and use a nail plate ensuring maximum distance on the side I have existing drywall on. Neat product, but seems to be a niche solution.
Or you could do it like we do, which is even better than your best. We run everything in plastic conduit in walls. Well not everyone but our company does it. Super simple rewire and in case you drill thru a cable/conduit you just exchange them between two points. And we run single wires in the conduits, also cost saving there.
These aren’t superior they might be code but you are better off with the screw spinning on the surface of the wall because it hits the plate once the screw grabs the wood its not difficult to drive it though metal they look good but are they listed by a nrtl ? Probably not code ?the article was great explanation 💯 just asking thanks
American construction and electrical systems should really take a look at how it’s done in europe (at least in scandinavia). First of all: 1. wires/cables are run through flexible pvc tubes (16-20mm). This makes it easier to change wires/cables for rehab or damage. 2. For each stud and hole, we use a half moon shaped metal spoon (best way to explain it) that is hammered in between the pvc tube and hole. This protects the wires/cables/pvc tube, and screws/nails easily bends aside without breaking. They also clamp and holds the flexible pvc pipe nice and tight for easy feeding of wires/cables.
Those EX Guard things look pretty cool and likely do a great job. I’m not in construction, so I may be way off base, but for protection from large fasteners I’d think you’d prefer the barrier to be just behind the drywall, like with those face guard things. I guess it depends on the type of fastener but in my mind I’d be concerned with any large screw/fag bolt fasteners someone may try to use, having the 1″ plus of wood first may allow enough threads of a good lag bolt and a strong driver to go through or crush the EZ Guard, depending on how strong they are though, and the person may not even notice. I suspect in 99.999% of cases those things are slicker than snot, they look to provide excellent protection to the wiring against abrasive edges.
I am not an Electrician but why do you drive the wires thru the studs? Won’t it affect the structural integrity? In my country(cyclone prone area), you can’t drive wires/cables into the studs or any structure that might affect the integrity of the house. All wires go into the ceiling and drop down, or a surface run is done.
If you have a hole that is too big a wire will move, IF, BIG IF a screw can ever get close to even touching it. Houses and remodels cost enough without wasting money on unnecessary items. Everyone should know that you never penetrate a stud more than 1-1/4 inches. There is no protection possible against fools and idiots.
In my country you only see conduit or cable with metal sleeving. The romex cable is not allowed here. Also like in Sweden we try to run only vertical wires in walls which has the advantage of not going trough studs and when you see a outlet or switch you know that straight above it is a vertical conduit never have to guess where your powerlines are. Electrical is going from outlet or switch preferred to go up. Water and other things have preferred going down from the tap to the floor. This also minimizes the conflict of having different things have to cross eachother in walls.
Only problem with the ez guard is if you are putting a big screw in, the screw will encounter the wire with most of its flutes digging in making it likelier that the screw will penetrate both the protection and the wire. The plates on the outside will just make the screw spin out in the drywall layer.
an overlength screw will drive right through those easyguards. the nailplates mostly work because screws will not have enough grip in sheetrock to drive through them, and hand driven nails will bounce back. I’ve seen gun driven nails go right through nailplates, and I’ve seen screws and nails driven right through steel conduit in cases where it was in a hole in wood that prevented the nail or screw from deflecting off.
Wow overkill. Australia we run TPS everywhere, conduit for DC (Solar stuff) but bare TPS (Romex) everywhere. It just doesn’t get hit. Drill through the middle of studs. Not sure if you use stud adhesive for your plasterboard over there to reduce the number of drywall screws needed? Plus we run from ceiling down or floor up in the cavities so the TPS is never really where you’re going to hang pictures or what not.
Interestingly there’s the distance requirement but they can notch the entire side of the stud so long as covered with a plate. I have new construction and it looks like complete shit as the electrician would just run around with a hatchet and gouge the side of the wood, but there’s a stupid little metal plate there so it’s all good and passes inspection…
More new houses in the UK are being built with wooden frames and the skinned with brick. Faster build times. For the rest of us, load bearing walls are generally brick or cinder block or the odd extruded hollow bricks in my house. Drywall is only used over stud walls and on brick walls, a plaster skin is applied. As a result, we tend to run any cables under the floor boards and then raise them up in the walls. It requires chasing the walls and for safety sake, metal trunking is recommended but plastic conduit is acceptable and… even plastering over the UK equivalent of Romex, T&E (Twin & Earth). I’ve never subscribed to cutting corners when it comes down to electricity and despite codes in place that require an electrician to do the work, there are some jobs that can be tackled by a competent home improvements person, called a DIY-er. DIY – Do It Yourself.
If you encounter old knob-and-tube wiring, you can just leave the tubes in place to run your new wires through 😉 It’s funny though, isn’t it? We think of knob-and-tube wiring as dangerous, but it isn’t because of the knobs and tubes. If anything, the use of knobs to offset wires from joists and tubes to line holes through studs and joists is a safer practice than what we do today.
Wow, have never seen these EZ Guard protectors before but they look really interesting. I remember when I built my house I was always concerned about hitting things (wires & pipes) with drywall screws. I used a lot of protector plates where plumbing was concerned but not so much for the wiring which I tried to make certain was in the middle of the stud. However it always made me nervous considering my cedar siding was being nailed onto the 1/2″ plywood wall sheathing with 2.5″ ring shank nails. Never did hit anything fortunately but these things guards would have made me sleep easier.
Good tutorial. Of course as you demonstrated if you size your hole correctly and are in the center of a 3 1/2 inch stud (2×4) no protection is required. Unfortunately you can’t fix stupid. True story, about 6 years ago at a building owned by Mayo health care. A young man installing a bracket using 2 1/2″ “SELF” drilling TEK screw went through the steel stud and encountered an obstruction with the screw head 3/4 of an inch proud of the bracket. So of course he leaned into it and drove the screw into a water riser. I have no idea how much that cost to clean up and repair. 20K is a guess.
Neat little product I guess if you can’t get the 1 1/4 depth. Still doesn’t stop one problem I see quite a bit, and that’s when a long nail misses the stud and hits the wire just outside the stud. Re roofs seem to be the biggest culprit for this when low paid workers are banging away with their air gun and 3+ inch nails to attach new sheathing.
I’m still amazed that American homes have cables just in the walls, unprotected, instead of installing PVC tubing in the walls, and pulling the cabling through that. Across the pond, either hard PVC tubing or flexible tubing is always used, and cables are routed through that. Why that isn’t standard practice in the states, i have no clue. It just seems better.
What’s a good way to run a new 8 gauge cable to cooktop when basement ceiling is drywalled and floor joist run crossways all the way to cook top. Wanted to upgrade cable because current cable only 10g so can’t handle new 40amp cooktop. I’ve even seen some cooktops listed at 50amp! Trying to avoid ripping out the ceiling.
These are important preventative measures to save major problems occuring, because later on people will not know these cables are behind the drywall. The same action could be taken for water pipes. Many years ago I fastened a loose floorboard down, only to have to lift it again because a long wood screw had punctured a radiator feed pipe.
I think a hidden / concealed horizontal wire in the middle of the wall may be a better installed inside a cable website or tube. FYI: to ease finding & avoid damaging concealed wires german electrical installation wires which are installed in the wall (Unterputzleitung) should follow rectangular wire installation zone guidelines: a) Horizontal wire zones near: “lower hor. zone” near floor < hor. wire < floor + 30 cm; and "upper hor. zone" near ceiling -30 cm < hor. wire < ceiling; b) Vertical wire zones - coming from one hor. zone - to switches/plug socket and aligned with them. c) Checking for hidden wires can easy start with a wirefinder searching vertical from a switch or plug socket and only in special cases (multiple horizontally aligned switches and plug sockets e.g. in kitchen/workshop, very old legacy installation from 1900) a horizontal wirefinder search finds hidden wires in a horizontal or other (diagonal) direction.
And that’s exactly how a company would go broke. BTW, are you seriously going to pull a permit to relocate a bathroom light? You aren’t an electrician so does your local code allow you to get one or do you require a licensed sparky to do it for you? Another expense to add to the list. Props for the effort made though. Informative and accurate.
Wow! These are really cool! I’ve seen other metal insert designs that just pop in, but these would work awesome in a remodel or especially a HT style room because the plastic bushing would help any sound related issues plus pretext the wires and maybe even have some efi interference blocking properties! 🎉very cool!
What if you cut 3 studs in a row, in half all the way through and another right beside them, cut a 3 inch hole in a 3 1/2 inch stud for pluming. This in an outside wall with the weight of the roof rafters and the ceiling rafters, that wall was supporting. Would that be a good idea? I did not do this, but I discover someone indeed did this when I was remodeling. When I fixed it, I had to jack up the wall 1/2 inch for the new studs.
What? You have an open cable inside the wall? What we do here in Norway is we install corrugated plastic tubes everywhere. These can be bought with or without cables inside, obviously the former can save you some work as you don’t have to pull through a cable afterwards. The main benefit of this is the fact you can change the cabling of the entire house without opening any of the wall, either due to damage, or because you need to upgrade. Also, you can do this yourself without being an electrician, and then just have an electrician do the connections, which would save you loads of money.
Im not an electrician nor know anything about regulations in america but if the walls are finished wouldn’t you go up into the ceiling and then back down again? Saves having to fix a wall or compromise the structural integrity of all of the studs in between…. I’d appreciate someone with more experience telling me why it’s not done like it’s done in other countries.
I always shoot for 1 inch of screw into wood seems kinda overkill to put in metal sleeves since the whole rest of house has unprotected wires probably running through 5/8 holes and it is making a bigger hole in stud making wall weaker might be good in some cases where you have to drill closer to the other finished wall and can’t add a nailing plate.
Almost every wall gets drywall over it, installing the old fashion nail plates without routing a groove for them makes the drywall bowed out and have nail pops. Im not a drywaller, but if you want the wires covered i think the electrician should spend the time to cut them out. Not just slap them up just for the drywallers to take them out again. then they get bent or broken or lost or thrown out.
You are an electrician, not a carpenter. I would stay away from making larger holes on all of those studs and stay away from nail plates because it will encourage people to go crazier and make things worse. I prefer to rely on a nail to trip on a trustworthy panel breaker done by a licensed electrician and solve a problem from there locally because it’s the most minimal effort overall.
I think the plates would be better. The drywall will allow for deflection of the drywall screw. The wall stud MAY hold the screw well enough for the drywall screw to penetrate the Ez GGuard. I have seen plywood over a wall stud hold a drywall screw enough to penetrate a nailer plate, when using an impact during installation. Basically, there is no perfect solution. The installer needs to be carefull.
The EZ guard solves the obvious issue of what about the drywall on the other side of the plate guard? It is unprotected! EZ guard solves this safety issue. I wish that I had known about these EZ guards before I started a bathroom remodel. Of course I could’ve used tube stock (NOT COPPER!) and drilled an interference fit just slightly smaller than the OD of the tube. The EZ Guards are slicker though.
Why on earth would you put the electrical wiring inside the wall and not put it on the outside? Imagine how much money you save by not having to cut the wall open if something goes wrong in there or if you have to or want to make changes to your electrical system in your house. If your house already have the wring done inside the walls and you want or need to hook up more stuff to it you end up putting wires running outside the wall if you want to or do not have the knowledge or money to do it inside the walls drilling holes in the studs. If you got an old house where an ocational mouse seek hide from the cold winter you need to put the wires in tubing they cannot eat through and cause a shortage and possibly a fire. Anyway ofcourse this is good tips but I would not do it like this no way man. Put the wiring outside the walls save money and do most of the work yourself and only pay for to get it hooked up.
I just wired an outbuilding and i drilled the holes to a diameter that allowed me to snugly drive in a two inch piece of conduit through each stud, all cut from a six foot piece. Was this a sound practice? The Romex seems to bind less when contacting the smooth steel vs. the grain of the wood. Again, I’m an amateur, maybe I was wrong in doing so.
I STOPPED USING METAL PLATES TO PROTECT WIRING IN WALLS… WHEN I RUN WIRING – I CUT 1″ LENGTHS OF METAL CONDUIT TO PRESS INTO THE HOLES AND RUN THE WIRING THROUGH THAT AND IT PROTECTS THE WIRES GOING THROUGH THE STUDS… NEVER HAD AN ISSUE ONCE I BEGAN THIS PROCEDURE… YES, IT ADDS A COUPLE DOLLARS TO THE PRICE BUT YOU CAN RELAX KNOWING SCREWS WILL NEVER PUNCTURE WIRES…
Electrician here. I watch a lot of your articles and, you are pretty knowledgeable for a guy that’s not an electrician. I heard you say you are not allowed to run Romex in another area near you. Many cities don’t allow the use of Romex ( for a pretty interesting reason.) Rats chew on the cable. BX, Mc lite or conduit are required.
Completely surprised at the poor quality you have on the walls in the USA. In Sweden, you have at least double plasterboard on each side. or even better, build playwood underneath and a simple plaster board over. Similarly, there is always insulation in the partition walls so that it must be quiet between the rooms. Electric cables in walls must always be routed in pipes and must not hang loose. What do you do if you have to add more cables or replace them with thicker cables in the future?
I will add very best alternativ: pull plastic tubes, and wires pulled through them. In Norway we always use tubes, and electrical wires (not cable), and that gives plexibilloty to add more wire, change thing later on. In Norway renovate older house more commen in Norway compare with US (I belive). Our oldish house from 1964 has tubes in steel, and made it much cheaper and quicker to do the changes from renovation.
While we’re on the subject of romex running, can you make a article on techniques to rolling out home runs? I’ve done it now twice, and it just seems like I’m missing some very simple tricks because it takes me FOREVER. Also, what staples do you use and how do you install them? The ones I’ve tried are a nuisance to put in, and I always end up smashing my thumb multiple times. Would love a article on BASIC techniques of pulling romex, drilling holes; hammering staples and boxes. Just can’t seem to find a groove you know
Capacitance is not an issue for 60Hz wires. As stated by another commenter, the capacitance between the hot and ground conductors in a Romex cable is greater than the capacitive coupling between arbitrary pairs of Romex cable. The reason for limiting conductors in shared holes in the rules must be some of the other things you mentioned besides the capacitance. If we assume that Romex has about 20pF per foot, 100′ gives about 2000pF, which has a capacitive impedance of about 1 Meg Ohms at 60Hz. That would give about 100 micro-Amps of current flow. If we consider another Romex cable as close as it could be for that same 100′ length, the capacitance would probably be ten times less. The result would be insignificant.
I think some of the limitations are because we used to run 14/2-3 (or even smaller) through walls, while today it’s more common to see 12/2-3 run through walls for additional safety and capacity when needed. The margin of safety between 14 and 12 awg wires is significant, and running 12 awg limits the heat, capacitive resistance, inductive resistance, and expansion those wires might otherwise experience with smaller wires. Running 12 awg is like future-proofing the home. I always recommend running 12 awg, as well as running CAT-6 to every room in the house (and 2-4 runs to every possible media location). CAT-6 is useful in so many ways that it just makes sense to run it before the drywall goes up.
After a solid year of trying to find an answer to this question. Thank you. You sir, are a saint. Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail the why’s of everything electrical. I can’t count the many times this has informed or helped me on my daily job as a solar electrician.. coming from residential they’re were a lot of commercial-grade codes or utility code I was unaware of. I appreciate you since this is the best way I go about not forgetting. it’s just my learning style. It’s gotta be showed and explained to me, can’t always just read from a book 🤣
2:42 I have seen an electrician get killed from that issue, it was actually inductive coupling. The new wire run wasn’t grounded running next to a live 7.2KV 3 phase run, which induced enough voltage and current into the new “dead” cable. He grabbed the cable to work on it, not verifying that there was a ground in place, and was electrocuted. That was preventable for sure. 😢
an independent lab ran testing on how many wires can be jammed in a hole without overheating them, so they put various numbers of cables in a hole, foamed the hole, like insulators now always do, and their determination was that you pretty much couldn’t exceed 3 cables before you started overheating wires. and capacitance between wires? not a thing I’ve ever heard of. induced voltage, yes. never capacitance. and if capacitance is the issue in the wire bundling charts, why is ambient temperature a factor?
Comparing your terminology to mine is fun. My expertise is in electronic design, not electrician. To me a “conductor” is only a single current carrying element. This includes not only wires, but also individual traces on a printed circuit board. A bundle of wires held together with an external jacket (for example romex or NM wire) is always called a cable. A bundle of wires held together in intervals (with, for example zip-ties) is a bundle, more specifically a wire bundle. A bundle of cables held together in intervals is also a bundle, more specifically a cable bundle. You keep referring to a single segment of romex as a conductor and it keeps sounding “wrong” to my ears, but is probably just a jargon difference between two similar looking (from the outside layperson) industries. This example of jargon differences (and my lack of training on electrical code) is why I’ll never claim to be an electrician. Keep up the good articles. I’m learning a lot of useful information as a new home owner.
I think there is a reason this is not addressed in code because there is no problem with the wires in close proximity. The effects of capacitance at 60 Hz is virtually nill. However, high frequency noise often created by power supplies and brushes can be coupled more easily. This is still not typically a problem as these emissions are regulated. Heat is a mild concern, but as you stated total current in a group of wires of a residence is typically very low and further 12 gauge wire is extremely conservatively protected.
I have scene more and more tract homes using cable stackers and mailing blocks of wood and separating and neatly stapling the wire 1 or 2 or even 3 on top. Looks neater. Nice to see some better quality work. And I have scene bundled wire that was way to hot. Almost to much to touch without gloves. In both commercial and residential work.
Hey, could you do a article about neutrals. It baffles me why a voltage detector can’t pick it up but if you get between two neutrals with a load on it you get hit. I’ve dealt with this a lot and really is the only time I’ve gotten hit. I have asked guys in our trade and I don’t get many answers. Love your articles keep up the good work!
Wanna argue all day long – I don’t have that type of time. But De-rating in 310.15 doesn’t have anything to do with capacitance… Back to heat… romex in insulation is about heat. Stacked and bundled also about heat… Environment and ambient temperature heat. Wet vs dry location, heat. Proximity to roof – heat. Current capacity- heat. Inductive heating- heat. So – How many do I put into holes on some of my projects. Outlets and appliances the magic number is 9 CCC’s before having to upgrade the wire size. 1″ holes. It was only a few years ago the section for romex added the wording about romex in the same holes in insulation, to refer back to derating in 310.15 – and the magic number is still – 9. On my lighting control Homeworks projects – 8-12/2’s in 1.5″ holes – and a handy spreadsheet of load calcs for each conductor pair and each bundle for the 16 CCC’s On my commercial project depending on the cost of wire and conduit these days – it can be cheaper to run daisy chains of subpanels in aluminum with local circuits to keep runs short. But back in the day when copper and pipe were cheap- 16-10’s for 20A circuits in 1.25″ conduit half way around the world to the other side of a building. Nothing to do with capacitance, heat.
As an electrical engineering STUDENT I would say the capacitance would be really low… however the inductance could pose a problem if enough cables are grouped together while all being used… they could possibly induce a current in a nearby metal object, possibly hanging or up against the wall and cause a shock to someone who touches it, it could cause the nearby object to heat up from the induced current or cause electrical items nearby to act faulty to name a few… this happens to vehicles as well where sensor wires in a motor are too close to alternator wires or alternating current wires and start acting erratic and throw codes or those sensors (I’m also a mechanic 😅)
I have a common practice of drilling a 3/4 hole, and if another run is needed, drill another hole. You can fit comfortably 3 runs of 12/2 and 14/3, and 4 runs of 14/2. My biggest concern of overcrowding is not the breathing factor, but drywall screws skewering the run! Though nail plates are used for some reason, a lot of people think longer screws are better to hang drywall, or put up siding…..in my own home, I replaced a junky GE Slimline panel with a nice Square D. The original panel had no main cutoff, though it was installed in 1981, and passed inspe tion (?), and when I purposely forced tripped a Slimline breaker the damn breaker did not trip…so I could have just replaced all the breakers, but with that expense, decided a new panel was needed. Anyway, there was a siding nail stuck inside the service conductor leading to the panel from the meter. I replaced that wire bundle, opened the cover and saw the neutral was indeed poked. Yes, could have energized my whole house exterior….anyway, catch your ” act” on the next article!
Bundling has absolutely zero negative effect on wires/cables. I have examined thousands of cables that spent their lives being bundled and stuffed through holes. The number of failures or installed of damed were….zero. I spent decades replacing services in AZ. By the time I retired I had done several thousand. Every service is outdoors here and all the cables enter though a hole in the back. It has been done that way way before my time and continues to this day. Why? Because it is a simple and safe installation.
If there would NEVER be enough current flowing through the NM cable, then we wouldn’t run 12 ga on a 20A circuit. Don’t forget the customer in the house. What usually doesn’t happen…like a house fire…CAN happen if we don’t follow code. We usually don’t consider the 20 conductor bundling rule except with MC cable in commercial. We also have to consider the hole size if it’s a load bearing wall. The NEC cannot be the only book we reference.
Fwiw, I always carry 3/4 and 1 inch bits. If I know I need to put anything more than a 12/3 and 12/2 in a hole (6/3 alone or 10-3 with 12/2 etc) I always just use the 1 incher. Makes the pulls so much faster, I feel like it saves my customers money. Same logic for anticipating 2 romex per hole. I only do 3+ if there’s weird framing that only gives me a single path, but again in those spots I use a 1 inch and ream it if it needs it.
I’m an electrician apprentice in NH. From what I have been told you can put as many as you can reasonably fit without damaging the insulation for a horizontal run but for vertical holes no more than 5 in a 7/8 hole. we do mostly 7/8 holes because when centered in a 2×4 that just gives you your 1 1/4″ spacing. Iv been told the inspector will fail you if you put more than 5 in a 7/8 hole but realistically you cant fit more than 5in a 7/8 hole anyway and 4 is really best. Also I try not to bundle more than 8 conductors in a run.
I don’t think capacitive coupling is going to matter here, because you’re going to get much bigger capacitive coupling between the hot and neutral or ground of a single cable. The effect of each additional cable would also get smaller. Going from 10 cables in a bundle to 100 cables in a bundle would have very little effect on the center cables. Heat on the other hand, even if only one conductor is running at max current, having a bunch of extra junk around it can make it harder to dissipate that heat. As the diameter gets bigger, the surface area available to dissipate heat also grows more slowly than the volume of conductor generating heat. If you double the bundle diameter, the surface area doubles, but the number of conductors increases to 4x the original number.
The amount of cables permitted within a hole bored through wood members as shown are dictated by typically two factors. The first would be are there any holes that are filled with with thermal insulation, caulk, or sealing foam as described in Section 334.80? This is were your electrical inspector is 100% correct that there may be a limit in the amount of cables that are permitted within a hole. At least 2 cable with at least two or more current carrying conductors would be required to be derated per 310.15(B)(a) or 310.15(C). This sealant is required at certain locations throughout a structure per the ICC building code as well as Section 300.21. Section 310.15(B)(a) does also required derating if space can not be maintained because as electricians we don’t know how these cables will be loaded, including but not limited to the ambient temperature that the cables will be subjected to. The author would be required to derate his #12 NM cable down to 50% if- 12/2 cables were installed through an insulated hole(30amps x .5 = 15 amps).The second factor in hole size is the distance from the edge of the hole to the face of the stud. This requirement is listed in Section 300.4(A). The larger the hole the shorter this distance is and nail/ screw protection is required. This requirements could potentially be for both sides of the hole depending what is the finished surface on either side.
Your article is accurate but there is in fact a code article that says how far from an edge can wires be and that measurement is 2″. So, if you bore through a 3 and a 1/2 inch stud a 2″ Hole and pack it full of wires, the inside diameter of that hole will be less than 2″. A drywall screw could make contact and Pierce the wire This is usually the reason why inspectors say don’t have too many wires in the hole without putting nail plates on. In Massachusetts this measurement is reduced 1-1/4 quarter because most sheetrock screws are 1-5/8′ long atop half inch sheet rock
Good article. I didn’t hear you mention if the borings are thermally insulated or not. When it comes to quantity of cables in a hole, that plays a big factor. While I agree that most residential/ commercial installs using romex won’t see more than a few amps, you still need to derate them accordingly. The code is clear on that – 334.80. Curious if you see it another way
There is a relationship between induction and capacitance first discovered in parallel open wire telephone lines were they had to use pole changers and induction coils to re balance the 600 Ohm line. “Parallel induction” induction heating” Parallax I think is a more reasonable explanation of why we shouldn’t bundle, now off the Golden Tower of theory in cases it probably make no difference like you say Justin.
On power lines, induced voltages ( either from inductive or electrostatic sources ) are generally too low to have any significant effect on any load you are powering. Any computer or electronic device also has input networks to protect against power line noise or transients. It’s not an issue. The FCC mandates both emission and susceptibility factors on electronics. However, heat is generally not an issue for exactly the reasons you mention. I would guess that there is a higher likelihood of someone doing damage to bunched wiring due to using an excessively long fastener of some sort and penetrating multiple romex if they happen to get “lucky” doing something silly like that. On SIGNAL wires, like a thermistor cable, EM coupling from power lines IS a real thing. Most thermostats use on/off contacts, though, and not remote thermistors, and those types are immune to noise. Any installation guide on a remote thermistor will explicitly command you not to run signal and power adjacent to one another.
Your “heat not an issue” argument works fine in typical inside walls, but it’s worth considering in outside walls that are insulated. Many years ago, when I was in college, I worked at the local electric utility, and one of the things they asked me to do was to test various types of insulation and their effects on wires. We built a 4-segment wall, ran several conductors through it (14-2 WG Romex, 12-2 Romex, 12 AWG in conduit, 14 AWG in conduit, 14 AWG post and knob) through it, insulated the various sections with different insulating materials (none, fiberglass, cellulose, foam), installed thermocouples to measure the temperatures, and then ran each circuit at various increasing current levels. When we got to 20 amps on the 14-2 Romex circuit (yes, that exceeds NEC but can be a common mistake if 14-2 is connected to a 20A circuit breaker; the utility was aware that some service/panel upgrades used 20A breakers connected to 12 AWG wire at the panel that then connected to existing 14 AWG wire elsewhere in the house), the wall started smoking and caught fire after just 5 minutes of continuous load. The fire started in the foam section, then spread to the cellulose. Needless to say, the test was quickly terminated. The test results were shared with several organizations, and led to some of the electrical and building and insulation code changes we see today.
It’s been a few years since trade school where we learned a lot of theory but hear me out😄 I thought that having the neutral ran with the hot(or the 2 hots on a 240) kept the load balanced so inductance shouldn’t be an issue with others wires near by. Any thoughts? I really like learning and refreshing info from your articles and these comments, thank you!
My house is 123 yrs old and has been rewired twice. The original was knob and tube, most likely done in the early 1900’s a good decade after the house was built. Then, probably in the 40’s or 50’s, rag wire. About 6 years ago, that was updated with 14/2 (with the exception of one circuit.) And, this should piss you all off… on 20 amp breakers. Additionally, 4 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs are running on one 20 amp breaker. Keep in mind that this was done by a licensed local electrician. I’m trying to find out who that f@#$er is. But the previous owner, who I know well, will not tell me who. She’s afraid of getting sued. The kitchen is on one 20 amp breaker, again with 14/2 the rest of the downstairs is also on one 20 amp circuit with 14/2. Insane. The house is a electricians dream with a basement and huge attic and a nice run from basement all the way to attic. Real easy access to everything and, obviously, easy wire pulls. My thought is, why? The crew that did that shit job would litterally have had to work harder to do such a crapy job vs doing it right. Now, I’m not a professional electrician. My experience was a electricians helper when I was taking am electronics course in vocational school in Ohio. The comapny i was working for did residential and commercial and I learned a lot. In new/rewire construction, every room got 20 amp service and was a home run to the panel, the kitchen 2 20 amp circuits. Am i wrong to be pissed off about this? Also, I’m about to run 5 12/2 cables from the basement to the attic to take care of the second floor rooms.
Our molding machine ran on 3 phase tapped out for current. When a motor start dragging it would aver amp and pop a main fuse. Machine computer ran on 1 leg hydraulics worked . Machine only cycled by hand This only happened every year or so when gearbox was going. And being electricians they hated walking out to maintenance building getting the lift and coming back and forth. 15 minutes down . Or hour and a half if they didn’t listen. Man keep checking for voltage I had been on jobs 10 years . I told him after 10 times of try it I TOLD him it’s that dam fuse so he finally went and changed it he said he had voltage on all 3 lines coming in and I told him he had residual voltage from lines laying by each but he needed to change the fuse. It would happen 3 or 4 times in a month till gearbox blew then be good for couple years just in time to train next new electricians Cause he had some kind of voltage showing he would not listen to me. We had 197 switches about 30 air Mack valves air pressure timers lot of stuff on machine only happened every year or two
Couple years ago, I ran a wood screw into a stud for a shelf bracket…pop went breaker Opened the wall to find the screw went directly thru the hole, thru the Romex…. No slack to fix it with a wire nut, so I used a crimp butt connector, after crimping I soldered the connector to be safe and covered with heat shrink.
Sorry…you’re all wet on this one. As stated by other comments, the capacitive effects BETWEEN Romex cables is very small, and considering the 60Hz line frequency, the capacitive coupling effect is also very small. Your assumption that adjacent cables will not be carrying significant current is also a bad assumption. Suppose the wires to a master bathroom are running together, and two people are using hair dryers at the same time, as well as having an electric space heater in the bathroom, along with lights/exhaust fan. Those currents are definitely significant, and could all contribute to the heating effect (IR loss) in the NM cables. Inside a wall with no air circulation, and especially with insulation surrounding the cables, there is little to dissipate the heat in the wires. The NEC derating is based on heating effects.
So just to argue with you for a sec. The capacitance argument you’re making is probably why the heat argument is a factor: If a conductor is being impeded by a capacitance issue, that energy has to go somewhere, and the only place any energy ever truly goes is heat. I’m not super familiar with how capacitance actually functions, but if it’s acting as any form of resistance in the line, the more the problem increases the more waste heat you’d have / foot. So then having a bundle of lines acting as a blanket over top of the lines in the middle would become a force multiplier for the problem.