If you wish to get electrical wiring work done in your house, then first of all you have to buy the best quality wires from brands like Finolex, KEI, Havells, Polycab, etc. The full current rating of these genuine wires will ensure complete safety and may even help in reducing your electricity bills. For more tips to buy the best electrical wires, read further.
Today, the market is flooded with a large number of brands of wires and at times this causes confusion. First ensure the wires you buy are made of electrolytic copper and they should be multi-strand (small bunch of very thin diameter wires instead of one solid conductor). Then look out of IS: 694 mark on the box as well as wires.
Size of Wires
For house wires, the common sizes are 1 sq mm, 1.5 sq mm, 2.5sqmm, 4 sq mm & 6 sq mm. 1sq mm is used for tubelights, LED lights wiring and also for earthing. 1.5 sqmm is used for Fans and light appliances. Next 2.5sqmm is used for 1.5 Ton Airconditioner. 4sqmm is used for 2 Ton AC. And if you have multiple AC units at home, then the wire size could be 6 sqmm or even 10 sq mm, depending upon the load and will be advised by you electrician/contractor.
Insulation
All premium brand wires come in three grades of PVC sheathing. The first one and generally used in domestic wiring is FR (Fire Retardent) PVC. The 2nd type is FRLS (Fire Retardent Low Smoke) PVC, which is recommended for commercial spaces, factories, etc; wherever there is large gathering of people. In unfortunate event of any fire accident, the maximum casualties are due to smoke inhalation. FRLS wires, as the name implies, have a special PVC compound and give out very low smoke in case of fire, thus enhancing the safety in a public place. The 3rd type of PVC grade is LSZH (low smoke zero halogen). Its also called ZHFR (Zero Halogen Fire Retardent). Both LSZH & ZHFR PVC insulation is absolutely same, though there is a lot of miscommunication and people feel LSZH is superior to ZHFR. Any wire which is already Zero Halogen (ZH) is ultra low smoke by its characteristic. ZHFR wires are used in underground public spaces. A very common example is the underground metro train stations.
Length
Generally most house wires of sizes 1 sqmm to 6 sqmm come in 90m or 180m packs. Wires of sizes 10 sqmm and above are generally supplied in 100m coils.
Are you going to buy electrical wires? If yes then you should browse Cables & Wires > House Wires (1 mm - 6 mm) where you will find all types of wires like FR wires, FRLS wires, ZHFR/LSZH wires, etc.
