What size wire for 15 amps?

Here is a 14 gauge wire from amazon that comes in at a length of 20 feet per spool. You will be getting both 20 foot length of black and red wires.

What is "gauge" or AWG?

Gauge (AWG) refers to the thickness of an electrical cable. The larger the gauge number (such as 10 vs 12), the thinner the wire, which makes it lighter and more flexible but limits how much power can pass through at any one time. For example, smaller cables have thinner wires inside them that are able to handle less amperage than those with thicker wires.

As stated above, the wire that has the larger number is much thinner than a wire with a lower number. A 10AWG wire is larger than a 12AWG wire.

12-Gauge Vs 14-Gauge Wire

The main difference between these two types of wires is the thickness of each wire. In general, 14-guage wires are thinner than 12-gauge wires and for this reason are used for carrying less current. This means that they can handle less electrical power/amperage (amps).

What is an amp?

An amp is defined as the rate of flow of electricity through a conductor when the potential difference between it's ends is one volt. To put it another way, an amp is a measure of how much electric charge flows past a given point in an electric circuit each second.

What is voltage drop?

In electrical engineering, voltage drop (VD) is the decrease in electric potential along the path of a current flowing through a circuit. The voltage drop occurs when the current flows through a resistance, such as a wire. The larger the resistance, the larger the voltage drop.

To help measure voltage, here is a multimeter from amazon that has been purchased over 11,000 times to date. Give it a try.

A multimeter can be used to help measure voltage in a circuit.

15 amp breaker wire size

A 15 amp breaker requires wire size of 12 gauge. If you are in the market for one, i would suggest this 15 amp breaker.

What is an electrical box?

An electrical box is a box that provides a structure for the circuit breaker and an enclosure to protect it. In some cases, where you're working with metal boxes, they can also act as a grounding point.

Here is an electrical box for all your future projects.

Conclusion

This article has gone over all you need to know about the wire size needed for 15 amps. The main thing to remember is that different wire sizes have different ampacities, and you'll need to know whether or not it's OK for your project. If in doubt, play it safe and go with a larger size wire. I hope you found this article useful. Feel free to bookmark it, and check out some of my other articles.