A house wiring cable is essential for house decoration. There are many different kinds of house wiring cables with different features and functions in the market. Today’s article is regarding the different types of cables used in house wiring.

Content of this article:

• What is the house wiring cable?
• What are the house wiring cable types?
• How to choose house wiring cable?

First of all, we need to explain the concept and structure of PVC insulated house wire. For some professionals, this is very simple to understand, but some new beginners, they haven’t a good understanding of it. But it is the foundation of this article.

What is the house wiring cable?

Household electric cable is usually used in home decoration projects as the name. Such as household appliances, home wiring, home circuit installation, etc. Its’ main application is house decoration and household wiring. Its structure is also simple, just include copper conductors and PVC insulation. OFC copper conductor has the advantage of strong conductivity, good stability, easy of production, and cheap cost. PVC insulation also has the advantage of high flexibility, cheap cost, strong chemical, and physical stability, and easy of bending and handling.
In normal circumstances, PVC insulated house wiring electric wire is single core electric wire. But it also has special types according to customers’ usage. Secondly, we will introduce the different types of cables used in house wiring.

What are the house wiring cable types?

Unsheathed PVC insulated electric cable for fixed wiring

This picture is our common using single-core PVC insulated electric cable wire. It has a simple structure of OFC copper conductor and PVC insulation material. The biggest feature is it only has one conductor and one insulation layer without a sheath. This single cable also includes original PVC insulated cable, heat resistant single core PVC insulated copper wire, and LSZH single core house wiring wire. Their differences are as follows:

Original PVC single core cable with letter expression is BV or BVR cable. The letter “B” means single-core copper conductor, and “V” means PVC insulation material. This kind of single-core PVC wire is commonly used by electricians. This kind costs the lowest among these three types.
Heat-resistant PVC single-core house wiring wire uses special PVC material to achieve the effect of flame retardant, it also adds a layer of mica refractory layer. So the price will be a little higher than the original PVC insulated industrial cables.

LSZH PVC insulated non-sheathed cable uses low smoke zero halogen PVC as sheath insulation material, this special material improved the problem of a large amount of smoke when ordinary PVC cables are burned. It is more friendly to the environment. So the cost is also higher than the original PVC insulated wire.

PVC insulated and sheathed cable

Saying by simply, this kind of wire adds a layer of PVC sheath outside the BV cable. The main function is to protect one or more wire cores inside from being affected by external impact, friction, and other adverse environmental conditions, to increase the mechanical strength of the cable core. The specification of this kind of wire includes round shape BVV cable and flat shape BVVB cable.

The PVC sheathed cables for home improvement are mostly used for laying on the surface. The flat shape is convenient for laying directly along the wall. If the threading pipe cannot be changed, flat-sheathed cables can be selected, such as BVVB. But the ampacity of the PVC sheathed wire is a little smaller than the PVC insulated non-sheathed cable because according to the thermal stability conditions, an extra layer of sheath reduces the heat dissipation effect of the conductor. So the ampacity will decrease accordingly.

PVC-insulated flexible wire and PVC-insulated rigid cable

According to the conductor softness, the best quality house wire includes flexible PVC copper wire and rigid PVC copper wire. BVR cable belongs to the flexible PVC insulated cable, and BV cable belongs to the rigid PVC copper cable. BVR house wiring electric wire is more flexible than BV PVC insulated single core cable, so it is easy to install and costs a little higher than PVC insulated rigid cable.

After understanding the types of cables used in house wiring, you may want to know the precautions when choosing these cables. This is the last topic of this article.

How to choose house wiring cable

• Applications. Normally, according to the multi-circuit wiring of the total score, lighting and sockets should be wired separately, and high-power dedicated wiring and sockets should be reserved separately. 100-150 square meters house entrance total wire should use 10mm2 BV single core PVC insulated cable. Lighting should use 1.5mm2 BV household electric cable. Sockets should choose 2.5 sq mm PVC insulated cable wire according to the permissible long-term operating conditions of the pipe. Air conditioners with less than 2 hp should choose 4mm2 BV PVC cables and wires, short distances can use 2.5mm2 PVC copper cable. Air conditioners above 3 hp should use 4mm2 and 6mme BV house wiring electric cable.
• Brand. Choosing a brand for getting the best electrical cables for house wiring is also important. A brand manufacturer can make sure to produce the best quality house wire. It will be more reassurance comparing buying from an unknown seller.
• Raw materials. High-quality flexible PVC insulating material can make house wiring electric wire surface bright colors, with no blemishes. High-purity ofc copper conductors can also make safe and long service time. So checking the raw material is also important for choosing the best cable wire for house wiring.
• Cost. Cost is the foundation of quality. If you care too much about the quality, then you shouldn’t choose cheaper PVC insulated cables. If you only want the cheap price, then please don’t have high expectations for quality. As the old saying in China, you will get what you pay. 

For more factors you need to consider when choosing the best quality house wire, please enter our article How to choose PVC insulated cable.
If you still don’t know how to choose house wiring cable, welcome to Henan Shenbei Industrial Co. Ltd., all kinds of best quality house wiring electrical wire, PVC insulated control cable, and high-quality instrument cable, both waiting for your inquiry.