CU vs AL

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mstrlucky74

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Guys, I just compared these two and the AL option is NOTcheaper overall. The wire is much cheaper but the labor is about 70% higher.Does this make sense? Thanks.
 

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infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Well the conduit went from 3" to 4" and the conductors are larger so I'm assuming that they would be more labor intensive. IMO 4" is overkill for those 4 conductors.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
What type conduit, and is it being run in/on structure or laying in a trench?

Aluminum will be lighter, which will be a little easier on a worker that is directly handling it, but you are dealing with sizes that very likely still will use same pulling and handling equipment for a run with much of any length to it at all.
 
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mstrlucky74

Senior Member
Location
NJ
kwired said:
What type conduit, and is it being run in/on structure or laying in a trench?

Aluminum will be lighter, which will be a little easier on a worker that is directly handling it, but you are dealing with sizes that very likely still will use same pulling and handling equipment for a run with much of any length to it at all.
Click to expand...

On structure... yea labor is a bit less for the AL wire but still cost more overall to install the AL scheme.
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
I don't see how it results in a 70% increase in labor. Increasing from 3" to 4" doesn't make sense either for 3 500 kcmil conductors.
 
I

Ingenieur

Senior Member
Location
Earth
conduit
4x3" vs 4x4" ~ $8 vs &12
total conductor/conduit
Cu $148/ft
Al $88/ft

I would guess labor for Al might be a bit more
but not $600/10'
 
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JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
Only way I see it is if the conduit is RMC and the increased weight of 4" vs 3" requires another man or more equipment to safely install by OSHA weight lifting limits - 3" is 73lbs per 10', 4" is 103lbs per 10'.

If the max limit is 50lbs/man, 4" requires 3 people vs 2 for 3"... ???

Dunno why they'd use 4" tho on the AL... 3" is still good for 3 500MCM and the ground.
 
I

Ingenieur

Senior Member
Location
Earth
mstrlucky74 said:
Additional set, increase in conduit size and increased conductor size..although Aluminum.
Click to expand...
4 sets of each according to your schedule
4x3" 350 Cu
4x4" 500 Al
the Cu is $500 to $600 more per 10' depending on conduit
no way is it cheaper
and no way is the Al labor 70% more, approaching double
it MIGHT be 10% more labor, but I doubt it

how long is the run?
what conduit type?
what did you use to estimate it
 
publicgood

publicgood

Senior Member
Location
WI, USA
This is probably the most common accepted value engineering item. 3 out of 4 jobs I design utilize AL as a cost saving measure. Typically feeders only and #1/0 and above.
 
electrofelon

electrofelon

Senior Member
Location
Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Here is an example. Recently fed 4 - 250 amp panelboards, about 150 feet each. 350 AL in 2.5 EMT $5200 pipe and wire. Could have used 4/0 CU in 2" EMT, assume wire is about 4 times as much, $13,500 pipe and wire. Going to cost $8300 more in labor? Remember Al is HALF the weight of CU for same ampacity.
 
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