Wire, conduit and fastener reference for the trades

Electrical charts and calculators that show their work

Voltage drop, conduit fill, ampacity, wire gauge and trade size references. Every number is calculated from a published formula or standard dimension, with the method and assumptions printed on the page.

Quick answer

For a 120 V single-phase branch circuit, 12 AWG copper carries 20 A and stays under 3% voltage drop out to about 60 ft; 10 AWG carries 30 A and reaches roughly 95 ft at 20 A. Voltage drop is calculated as VD = 2 × K × I × L / cmil, where K is 12.9 for copper and 21.2 for aluminium.

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Copper wire quick reference

Size (AWG)Circular milsDiameter (in)Est. amps @ 75 °CΩ / 1000 ftDetail
144,1070.064118 A2.52514 AWG specs
126,5300.080824 A1.58812 AWG specs
1010,3830.101932 A0.99910 AWG specs
816,5100.128544 A0.6288 AWG specs
626,2510.162059 A0.3956 AWG specs
441,7410.204380 A0.2484 AWG specs
266,3710.2576108 A0.1562 AWG specs
1/0105,5350.3249146 A0.0981/0 AWG specs
2/0133,0770.3648170 A0.0782/0 AWG specs
4/0211,6000.4600230 A0.0494/0 AWG specs
Ampacity is a formula estimate at 75 °C, 30 °C ambient, three current-carrying conductors. Resistance is DC at 20 °C.

Source & method: Diameter from ASTM B258 AWG geometry, d(mils) = 5 × 92^((36 − n) / 39). Resistance from R = ρ × 1000 / cmil with ρ = 10.371 Ω·cmil/ft for annealed copper at 20 °C. Ampacity from the power-law model documented on the methodology page.

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