Romex costs more than MC cable right now?

[jmellc]

Most people don't have to see me they usually hear me--- hahaha. There is one other electrician who used to work for me that is louder and more obnoxious than I am...

Loud & obnoxious is fairly common in our trade though.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Loud & obnoxious is fairly common in our trade though.

I remember years ago before I even started my own business and Hunt was at a different location, I went in there and started talking crap. Joe, a local, and I got into it talking dirt about each other. He always called me the damn yankee and I always reminded him who won the war. We ended up being great friends and I miss him dearly.

 

[kwired]

HD and Lowes dont sell much for commercial construction, their primary focus is home owner and DIY so not much MC being sold compared to NM.

What you're seeing is the rise in copper prices catching up with NM first because it's used more. Once more people realize older stock MC is still being sold cheaper, some number will switch to it. Then when that stock is used up MC will rise above NM again. Unless the post-covid shifts enough to drive copper back down again.

Those maybe factor a little, but I think the plastic sheath on NM cable is what is mostly driving the price of NM, maybe a little bit of demand as well. Aluminum hasn't really gone up all that much in this past year compared to many other materials, and that is what the sheath is on most the commonly used MC cables.

 

[KdogSparky]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I felt compelled because as someone interested in politics and economics, this truly amazes me. At my local Home Depot (and Lowe’s, I checked), the price of a roll of 12/2 Romex is about $140.00 USD. The price of a roll of 12/2 MC cable is about $122.00. I have never seen this before in my life; MC Cable obviously costs more to produce, and it has always made sense to me that it is somewhat higher, albeit perhaps a bit too much. Then again, MC Cable is probably sold far less in a big-box store than Romex, versus say a supply house. Still, it baffles my mind.

Anyway, my question is, has anyone ever seen Romex and higher price than MC cable?

no.

 

[petersonra]

 

[Fred B]

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Not apples to apples on price. That PCS cable is more because of the built in control wires. Priced 12/3 NM 250ft for $284.79 or compare like this:
250ft 12/3 PCS MC cable is $408.15

What doesn't make sense on HD site is the 200ft 12/2 NM PCS costs $234.96 when the 200ft of 12/3 NM PCS costs $229.46

Something more than price of copper going on with this one.

 

[James L]

Not apples to apples on price. That PCS cable is more because of the built in control wires. Priced 12/3 NM 250ft for $284.79 or compare like this:
250ft 12/3 PCS MC cable is $408.15

What doesn't make sense on HD site is the 200ft 12/2 NM PCS costs $234.96 when the 200ft of 12/3 NM PCS costs $229.46

Something more than price of copper going on with this one.

Some of it is old stock, undoubtedly.

They price it according to what they paid for it, not according to current market prices.

When 12/2 NM first hit $140 per 250', there were still big box stores selling 12/2 MC for $125

But you can bet your bottom dollar that price didn't hold. As soon as they had to restock on their 12 2 MC, the price was more than NM

 

[jmellc]

HD and Lowes dont sell much for commercial construction, their primary focus is home owner and DIY so not much MC being sold compared to NM.

Lowe’s maybe but HD sells a lot of strut & sometimes has more fittings for it than supply houses. They sell MC from 25 foot rolls up to standard 250 foot. They sell copper wire up to about 4/0. They sell CAT 5 & 6 cable and many fittings. I’ve shopped there for many commercial jobs. Also they conveniently sell multiple brands of breakers. Some of their plastic boxes aren’t the best, I’ll grant that.

 

[kwired]

Lowe’s maybe but HD sells a lot of strut & sometimes has more fittings for it than supply houses. They sell MC from 25 foot rolls up to standard 250 foot. They sell copper wire up to about 4/0. They sell CAT 5 & 6 cable and many fittings. I’ve shopped there for many commercial jobs. Also they conveniently sell multiple brands of breakers. Some of their plastic boxes aren’t the best, I’ll grant that.

I think normally stocked items can vary from store to store as well.

 

[Frank DuVal]

I think normally stocked items can vary from store to store as well.

Hence why you must put in a store location to get a price at HD and Lowes. Lowes in Culpepper is $160 for 12/2 NM-B and you have to ask a clerk to get it down from above. Pallets are empty.

 

[Coppersmith]

I was driving to a job today and debating about running NM (with a PVC sleeve for a short portion that was exposed) or running MC. Then I remembered the title of this thread. I ran MC. It's cheaper now.

 

[petersonra]

I was driving to a job today and debating about running NM (with a PVC sleeve for a short portion that was exposed) or running MC. Then I remembered the title of this thread. I ran MC. It's cheaper now.

At least you can get it. One of the other engineers here told me this afternoon that a common relay he had on a BOM came back as 4 weeks lead time.

 

[LarryFine]

Hence why you must put in a store location to get a price at HD and Lowes. Lowes in Culpepper is $160 for 12/2 NM-B and you have to ask a clerk to get it down from above. Pallets are empty.

I recently had to drive to the Spottsylvania store to get a certain panel, and it was more. A call to customer service fixed it.

 

[kwired]

Hence why you must put in a store location to get a price at HD and Lowes. Lowes in Culpepper is $160 for 12/2 NM-B and you have to ask a clerk to get it down from above. Pallets are empty.

What about ship to home items? Those get fulfilled from warehouses other than the store you call "my store" Are always same price as "my store".

I don't order a lot from HD, but nearest stores to me are in the 100 mile range away from me, so I do have most of what I do purchase from them shipped to me. Majority of it seems to come from west coast warehouses and often takes 5-7 days to arrive. Expedited shipping usually high enough I might as well buy at supply house instead. If they shipped from the nearest store most the time standard ground would still arrive the next day if sent early enough.

 

[Rgator53]

Remember when you used to collect all those 2' and 3' pieces of NM cable at the end of the coil and throw them in your scrap pile ? While doing the rough-in, if you needed to make some pig-tails, if the scraps weren't nearby you'd pull out a short piece from the coil and make them up. Now, it's a real PITA but I save many of those scrap pieces on the truck to do the same thing. This is what it's come to :-(

Back in 1979, we had to save all the Romex scrap ends and pieces and leave them in the garages of the houses we wired in Jefferson County, CO for the electrical inspector, Bill Gray to collect before he would pass the house electrical inspection! We finally got him caught and fired.

 

[kwired]

Back in 1979, we had to save all the Romex scrap ends and pieces and leave them in the garages of the houses we wired in Jefferson County, CO for the electrical inspector, Bill Gray to collect before he would pass the house electrical inspection! We finally got him caught and fired.

I would have left him every piece of stripped off sheath as possible, and no pieces containing any copper over say 3 inches long and told him I was just that efficient with it.

 

[James L]

I had a commercial job about 10 years ago, the stupid-intendent informed me that all the scrap on the job belinged to him. He was dead serious.

I laughed at him and called him an idiot.
He tried to double down and tell me I'd better not take any scrap off the job.

I told him he one opportunity to recant, or he'd better not step foot outside the door. I told him if that day ended with him being serious, he would rue the day.

He backtracked about an hour later

 

[Frank DuVal]

What about ship to home items? Those get fulfilled from warehouses other than the store you call "my store" Are always same price as "my store".

Exactly. Priced to your area, not where the warehouse might be.

Working in both Fredericksburg and Richmond at one time I learned quickly which parts to buy in which location Lowes/HD... when I wasn't near the supply houses in my travels.

 

[petersonra]

Back in 1979, we had to save all the Romex scrap ends and pieces and leave them in the garages of the houses we wired in Jefferson County, CO for the electrical inspector, Bill Gray to collect before he would pass the house electrical inspection! We finally got him caught and fired.

in chicago they would not take scrap copper as a bribe. they would want cash. although I seem to recall one case not real long ago where the inspectors were getting free hookers. but that might have been plumbing inspectors.

 

[kwired]

Exactly. Priced to your area, not where the warehouse might be.

Working in both Fredericksburg and Richmond at one time I learned quickly which parts to buy in which location Lowes/HD... when I wasn't near the supply houses in my travels.

So you should be able to make "your store" one that typically has lower prices on items you are most interested in then, right? As long as they are shipping to you from half way across the country shipping is going to be about the same, and is usually free shipping if over $50 purchase anyway.