voltage drop

[jatindall82]

Hey guys I have a question regarding voltage drop in a residential application. I live in Texas, east texas to be exact, and in north Texas #12 nm is the minimum wire size to be used. In east texas we can use #14 for some applications. My question is this, in a house say 6000 square foot your farthest bedroom might be 200 foot away from the panel. In normal instances we run a 14/2 homerun to each bedroom serving the lights (4 recessed cans and a fan) and say 8 plugs. should voltage drop be considered in this application? We have had no problems to date with anything at all going wrong but I was just wondering if this should be brought to the attention of the master over seeing things?

 

[peter d]

It's a bedroom and chances are a house that large in east Texas, you have a large central A/C system so you aren't going to be using window shakers or space heaters. Not much goes on in a bedroom as far as electrical demand goes. That being said, 200 feet is a long way and I would probably upsize the circuit myself.

 

[augie47]

At a 10 amp load you would have 13 volts drop on a #14 at 200 ft taking 120 volts down to 107v.
As peter states, a 10 amp load might be rare in a bedroom but the possibility certainly exists (computer equipment, treadmill). If I invested in a 6000 sq ft home only to find I had a voltage drop problem I would be an unhappy customer which leads to a unhappy builder which leads to a strong possibility of a different electrical contractor.

 

[kwired]

If house is that large that you have 200 foot home runs, maybe one should consider some sub panels in different areas to cut down on home run lengths. If owner/architect don't want that then they can always spend extra $$ on heavier wiring for all the home runs, or give up some performance in voltage drop issues - just be sure to let them know what they are going to get and the consequences that may come with it. If you are in a place that does have minimum rules on VD, then they don't have much choice.

 

[JFletcher]

My question is this, in a house say 6000 square foot your farthest bedroom might be 200 foot away from the panel.

Is this a single story house built 200' x 30'?

You could run #12 to the first device then #14 from there, keeping VD down as well as materials cost/labor. There shouldnt be that many home runs that need upsizing - 2, maybe 3? What's 500' of 12/2 NM vs 14/2 NM, $30?

Any chance the panel can be more centrally located?

 

[mwm1752]

Legal - yes -- pratical - not really -- funny how someone came build a 6000 sq ft home & take the cheapest bids, spend more on carpet than wire. A quality builder will have customers lined up & waiting. A quaility builder will use sub contractors who take care of foreseable issue so they may take credit. Take care of your builder let them know how it really works & most of the time you will benefit from you efforts IMHO.

 

[jatindall82]

I totally agree with all the comments. I do what I am told at my job. Things like what we are discussing are personal concerns that I take into account so when I do start my own business I am doing the work as I see fit, safe, and just in general what is best for the customer/builder in all aspects. Thanks for your expert opinions and knowledge!!