12 or 14 – that is the question….
I am getting ready to re-wire a small apartment. (100 amp service – completely gutted – starting from scratch) The meter and the service entrance are only two years old – so upgrading to 200 amp service isn’t really an option (or necessity, based on the 850 sf size of the structure)
My question is: 14awg or 12awg? It seems as though the code books suggest 12awg. I understand voltage drop, I understand box fill issues. I thought I read in FHB a few months ago an article about $avings based on using 12awg when only necessary.
Does anyone have any experienced-based thoughts on this? On one hand – the relatively small area that I have to wire doesn’t seem to lend itself to huge money savings for the 14awg. On the other – it doesn’t seem that voltage drop will be a big issues – since the service panel is within 10ft of the laundry area, kitchen and living room.
Thanks for the help –
Frank
Replies
I prefer all receptacles be on 20 amp circuits.
The code does require 20 amp circuits for the 2 required kitchen small appliacne, bath, and washer circuits. But otherwise you can use either for other receptacles.
Lighting is different. You often have 3 way switches and boxes with multiple switches and boxes with 3 cables (power in, power out to next box, and switch leg). Also if you need to fish some wire 14-3 is much easier to work in tight places than 12-3. All of these tend to lean towards use 15 amp circuits on the lighting.
I use #12/20 amp breakers for everything. Ordinary branch circuits are either 15 or 20 amp, anything bigger is always a special thing like HVAC or an electric stove.
When somebody replaces breakers in the future, they'll use either 15 or 20, and not necessarily based on the wire gauge. Going with #12 makes the most probable future mistake fall in the safe direction rather than the dangerous direction.
Unless you're building a bazillion tract houses, the price difference between #12 and #14 is peanuts. It's not worth the hassle of stocking two different gauges. Especially on a remodel, your big cost isn't the wire, it's the labor to put the wire in. With #12, you get 33% more capacity for future uses, and for a lot less than 33% more present cost.
-- J.S.
I prefer 14ga/15A for all lighting circuits and 12ga/20A for all receptacle circuits. The 14ga is easier to work with in multigang switch boxes and, if done correctly, you rarely run into box fill problems. Check with your local authority though, many areas are not allowing use of 14ga anymore (they say it's because it's too easy to stick in a 20A breaker instead of a 15. I always counter that as long as the big box stores carry single pole 30A breakers, you can say the same thing about 12ga wire.).
Thanks for all the input. I like the input regarding the 20amp breaker/future replacement. I hadn't thought of that angle.
Thanks again.