Electric wires in Pakistan
Electric wires
Another crucial item required during construction of your house and also as a first step of finishing works are electric wires. Electric wires serve the purpose of supplying current to all your appliances and devices. Electric wire consists of two components, copper conductor and insulation. Copper conductor is the main component that carries current whereas insulation carries the copper conductor in it.
Electric wires used in houses are also known as “General Purpose” wires. This type of wires are manufactured in different sizes and cores however following are only required during house construction:
Single Core 3/.029 or 1.5 mm
Most of the wires used in a residential house are single core 3/.029. Where 3 indicates number of copper conductors inside the insulation and .029 indicates diameter in inches of each conductor. 3/.029 wire is used to supply current to all low voltage appliances and devices.
Single Core 7/.029 or 2.5 mm
7/.029 is the wire that is used as main wires of each room separately where 7 indicates number of copper conductors inside the insulation and .029 indicates diameter in inches of each conductor. A single 7/.029 wire connects respective room with the main DB (Distribution box) hence carrying all load of that particular room excluding air conditioner or any other high current appliance/device that is wired completely separately.
Single Core 7/.036 or 4 mm
Every house consists of many high current appliances such as Air conditioners, electric heaters, electric geezers, ovens etc. Though all these wires can operate on 3/.029 or 7/.029 too, preferred wire for such appliances and devices is 7/.036 electric wires where 7 indicates number of copper conductors inside the insulation and .036 indicates diameter in inches of each conductor.
4 Core 19/.052 or 25mm
A very critical wire used in house construction is 4 core 19/.052 where 19 represents number of strands/conductors in each core and .052 indicates effective cross-section of each core. These wires are used as main wires that connect the main electric supply from high voltage wires to your house. 4 core wires are available both in Copper strands and silver strands, the main supply high voltage wires fixed by the government are made of silver, however it is always recommended to used copper 4 core wires for main connection since it carries all the electric load of a house.
Intercom/telephone cable 1 to 5 pair
All companies manufacturing general cable electric wires for residential or commercial purpose, also make communication cables used for intercoms, telephones and other low voltage devices. These wires are manufactured in different pairs where each pair consists of two separate strands/conductors. 1 pair is generally used throughout the house for telephone connections. Whereas 5 pair is used from Main entrance of house to internal junction box of communication services for connecting intercom, camera, electric locks etc.
Coaxial cable RJ-6/RJ-7
Another important cable that is required nowadays in houses is Coaxial cable that comes in two grades named as RJ-6 or RJ-7 where 6 represents superior quality of signal transmission. Coaxial cables are used for networking, communication dishes, television connections, long range CCTVs etc. Separate conduit/pipes are fixed in walls for coaxial cable where ever connection is required in house for TV/Dish.
There are many brands manufacturing quality general purpose electric wires that claim there wires to be 99% copper and fire proof insulator. Some of them are:
- Pakistan cables
- Fast cables
- FR cables
- GM cables
- Excel cables
Quality check on site for electric wires
Though they might or might not have a conductor that comprises of 99.9% copper, however all these brands are highly recommended. A small fire test can be carried out to test the insulator of wires on site. Take a small piece of wire and light a fire on it, the insulator should not act as a fuel and enhance the fire, it should resist and extinguish the fire quickly. Quality of insulator depends upon the rate at which fire extinguishes. Better the quality, more quickly the fire will extinguish. Secondly copper quality can easily be checked on site by its permanent and ineradicable colour, can be bent and twisted without breaking or stretching. There are many nameless wires available in the market at cheap rates, however most of such wires are of inferior quality. Using such wires in houses or other places is never recommended. Inferior quality wires can cause short circuits resulting in fires and utility bills for electricity consumption can also be on higher sides.
Very Good Article. Can Any one here please guide me how much estimate roughly be required to put overground electrical wiring of a house into underground? I can provide further detail if required
What is the size of your house in marlas?
It is not recommended, it should be replaced. Best would be copper into meter and copper into db. However if not possible than it should remain silver throught upto db.
Gauge depends upon the total elec load for your house.
IS there a chart on which I can correlate the power with gauge ?for example if I have three ac working with ups and normal 3 room
Load what would be the gauge I am looking for ?becur I was told a 16 mm gauge should be fine?and should the gauge of the wire that is entering the meter and exiting the meter into db be of same gauge ?or it could vary ?
Dear Usman,
There are plenty of charts available online where you can correlate the load of your house with gauge that you tentatively require. If you have 1.5 ton 3 inverter acs and 3 rooms with standard appliances such as fans, lights, light plugs etc your approximate load will be 3.8 to 4 kwh, for which 16 mm copper is more than enough.
In ideal scenario gauge should be same both input and output of the meter. But if due to whatsoever reasons there is a difference, it wont harm your house or your electric bill to a significant effect.
THANK you so much for the timely responses and I appreciate the good work you are doing .thank you once again
Welcome Usman, looking forward for your contribution on our website in future too. If you have expertise in any field regarding house construction and you can pen it down in form of article, we will post it on our website for the guidance of others with your name.
They say that there shouldn’t be silver and Copper joint ,Is that true ?
True, there must be a bus bar or other method for joining copper and silver, direct joint should be avoided. Causes resistance hence resulting in loss.
if copper wire is coming from wapda into meter and the from meter to DB it is silver ,is it going to cause problem ?and if so would it be better if the copper is turned into silver so that a silver is going thorughout ?or copper into meter and copper from meter into DB ,
and if silver wire is throughout does it cause any problem ?and what gauge should be used ?
sir kindly guide about solar panel cable
Your post is very helpful for me. Thanks
Thanks Hafiz
Dear article writer..please suggest best cable for house..pakistan cables or newage or pioneer or fast..please give sincere advice
Pakistan cables
Can you please comment, which is the 2nd best cable in the market as Pakistan Cables is expensive than all others
Coppergat, excel, allied, gm
Jazakalah for your response,
what is your opinion on Newage and Fast cables, can they be considered as 2nd best?
Yes very good brands!
Aoa sir wapda pole is 800feet faraway from My house which wire is best for electric supply connection.764/772
7/64 is fine
primetrade.pk is best for purchase electric wires cable and cable accessories in pakistan
Thanks for sharing. Will definitely check it out.