I need to run some stat wire well before I'll have an hvac guy involved. What's the number of conductors and gage that's normally used? This will be a fairly typical forced air and a/c installation.
thanks, bill
"fairly typical" could mean a lot of things.
Google "thermostat wire" and you'll find things like...
and...
and...
RH - This wire comes from the 24VAC transformer on the heating system. RC - This wire comes from the 24VAC transformer on the air- conditioning system. W - This wire comes from the relay that turns on the heating system. Y - This wire comes from the relay that turns on the cooling system. G - This wire comes from the relay that turns on the fan.
tell him what your up to, he might supply the wire for free, in some cases
It is always a good idea to have a few extra wires, so in the future, if/when you get new equipment that may possibly require more wires (2 stage etc.) you will be ready. For a basic gas heat system, the minimum is 4 between the thermostat and furnace and 2 between the furnace and outside unit. There is 7wire made for sprinkler systems that will also work for thermostat wire. Larry
Why not just ask the HVAC guy and then you will know for sure?
It also depends on your thermostat. My White-Rogers 1F95-377
- which I love because of the programmable fan control - uses 24V rather than batteries for power, so it needs 5 wires.
Ask the HVAC guy. Seriously, that's a lot more sensible than asking people who have no information as to what your equipment is.
If you totally don't want to talk to the HVAC guy, run 18-8 wire, and then you're covered for everything. Home Depot has it.
Reminds me of the time the HVAC guys were installing my furnace and needed to replace the T-stat wire. They were going to take a break for lunch and I volunteered to pull the wire for them since I knew where the old wire ran behind the ducts in the basement - I had pulled them a few years before and wanted the new one in the same hidden area.
Easy enough job - just cut the old wire in the basement, tape the new one to the old, go upstairs and pull the new one up with the old one. Well, it's that easy unless you tape the new wire to wrong section of wire in the basement, in which case all you do is pull the old one out. What an idiot I was! Luckily the guys had actually left for lunch because it took a long time and some sweaty work to fish the new wires up through the cramped area behind the ductwork - just as long and as sweaty as when I first pulled the wires a few years before.
The guys came back and I acted like it took me 5 minutes.
Yep, you sure fooled them. Did you notice them chuckling when you turned your back? Bubba
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