Wire Size Calculator

A wire size calculator assists to select the correct size of electrical wire based on amps, voltage, distance, and load. Proper wire selection is critical for a sustainable electric circuit to resist the voltage drop and current carrying capacity.

How to Calculate Wire Size?

The cross-sectional area is directly related to the capacity of the current. The wire gauge is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area. By increasing the cross-sectional area of the wire, the resistance of the wire also decreases.  It is quite necessary to calibrate electrical wire calculations to find relative resistance, wire length, and allowable voltage drop. The relative conductivity and voltage of the wire should also be specified before installing a wire.

$$ A(m^2)= \dfrac{2 \times ρ(Ω·m) \times L(m) \times I(A)}{V_V} $$

Where:

A = cross-sectional area in square meters

ρ = conductor resistivity in ohm-meters (Ω·m)

L = length in meters = current in amps

V = allowable voltage drop in volts

Example:

Consider an AC/DC single-phase voltage. The source voltage is 10 V and the allowable voltage drop is 3 V. Copper wire is used and the current flows through the 10 A, the Length of the wire is 10 m. The wire temperature is 10 Celsius. Then what is the AWG wire size?

Given:

Area (A) Square meters

Conductor (ρ) = copper (1.7241E-8)

Wire length(L) = 10

Current (I) = 10

Voltage drop (V) = 3

Solution:

\(A(m^2)=  \dfrac{2 \times ρ(Ω·m) \times L(m) \times I(A)}{V_V} \)  

\(dfrac{2 \times 1.7241E-8Ω·m \times 10m \times 10A}{3}\times 1,000,000 \)  

\( 3.4482E-6 \times 1,000,000 \)  

\( =0.3448 \)

You can determine the capacity of the wire and its relative voltage and current. Then it is essential to use an electrical wire size calculator before choosing a wire.

Wire Size Chart:

A wire size chart designed to specify the Diameter and Area in AWG. You can identify the area and diameter in inches and meters of 0 to 10-gauge wire. Future estimation of various  AWG implies electrical wire calculators.

You can estimate the length and gauge of the wire in different units with the wire length calculator.

Working of Wire Size Calculator:

Using the wire gauge calculator is effortless as it only requires simple inputs to generate the precise result. Let's find out how!

Input:

• Select the wire size option
• Enter the wire size, source voltage, allowable voltage drop, current, length of wire
• Choose conductor material for the wire
• Tap Calculate 

Output:

• Wire gauge and cross-sectional area

FAQs:

What is Wire Gauge?

Wire gauge refers to the size and capacity of the wire. Wire gauge is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area of wire and it determines electrical wire calculations. It is necessary to identify the cable size with the wire gauge calculator before installing a cable in the circuit.

Is it ‘Gauge’ or ‘AWG’?

AWG stands for the American Wire Gauge and calls it the gauge for our understanding. AWG measurements do not consider the insulation of the cable while estimating the gauge of wire. AWG measurements are specifically gauged by the electric wire sizing calculator to calculate wire size and capacity.

References:

From the source of thespruce.com: Wire Size, How Calculate wire size? From the source of dfliq.net: Copper Wires, Electrical Wire Calculations