The 14-2 AWG cables are thinner than the 12-2 cables. Should You Choose a 14-2 or 12-2 Romex Wire? Reliable 12-2 AWG cables can also work with THWN or THHN-rated wires because they can handle a temperature of up to 194 degrees Fahrenheit. 12-2 Romex can work with a 15 amps or a 30 amps power circuit. They can handle the current and heat of circuits that are lower and higher than 20 amps. However, 100 ft 12-2 Romex are versatile. In most cases, a 20 amps circuit breaker should be installed with these cables. How Many Amps is a 12-2 Romex Wire Good for?Ī 12 gauge Romex wire is rated for a 20 amps circuit. 50 ft Romex 12-2 cables are used mainly for indoor wiring in homes and office buildings. The individual conductors usually have white, black, and red insulation. Most 1000 ft 12-2 Romex cables have a yellow outer jacket to differentiate them from 14-gauge and 10-gauge wires. It protects them from exposure, rust, or bridging (accidental contact between the live and neutral wires). The tough non-metallic sheathing serves as a casing for the individual wires. A 12-2 Romex wire also has a bare or insulated ground wire bundled with the current-carrying wires. The second number (2) indicates the number of current-carrying wires. The first number (12) refers to the gauge under the American Wire Guage (AWG) system. Depending on the configuration, you may want to install a dual-pole GFCI in the panel (advantage: one location and "done" disadvantage: long way to go to reset) or you may want to install receptacle/GFCI devices at the point of use (advantage: easy reset when needed disadvantage: depending on how/where the MWBC is split, this may not be practical or may require other changes to the wiring).12-2 Romex wires are copper wires insulated and bundled together in a single non-metallic sheath. There are also complications when it comes to wiring up GFCI on an MWBC, but if installed correctly an MWBC is perfectly safe. That is important because otherwise the shared neutral could have current on it from the other circuit when you think everything is off because the breaker for one circuit is off. The two circuits have common shutoff - i.e., if you turn off the breaker for one circuit, the breaker for the other circuit always turns off at the same time.In other words, if you have 15A on one circuit and 10A on the other, the neutral will actually have 15 - 10 = 5A, not 25A. If so, the neutral is the difference between the circuits instead of the sum of the circuits.
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