Aluminium cable wire for domestic electric load supply

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Adarsh Mohanty @adarshmohanty

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Postato: 7 mag 2023

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Aluminium cable wire for domestic electric load supply

I have recently finished my house construction. In which preliminarily I applied my house for a electric load of 1 KW (commercial) Single Phase supply for the usage of various electrical tools during construction. The electricity board supplied this through single core 4 sq mm aluminum service cable wire connection from the main pole. After I permanently resided to my house I opted for a load increase to 5KW (domestic) supply. But during usage of various appliances in home I found very low voltage often which made running heavy appliances like AC, water geysers and microwave ovens difficult.

Then I filled a request for increase in service wire guage increase. The board supplied me now with 8 sq mm single core aluminium cable wire. After this for few months everything went good and I got good voltage (~220 - 230V). But recently I started getting low voltage again.

Is this still because of the aluminium cable or is it normal to get low voltage around this time since its peak summer time now? Is 8 sq mm aluminum wire enough for home if run almost 5000 Watt load?

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oldturkey03 @oldturkey03

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Postato: 7 mag 2023

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@adarshmohanty where are you located that they are still using aluminum wiring? There are so many issues with aluminum wiring due to the expansion and contraction of the aluminum during peak power usage. There are also issues with heat, resistance and corrosion if it gets connected to copper terminals.

From your question, it looks like your household voltage is in the 220V range. 5000W/220V=23A (22.7) Now add a safety factor of 1.25 to it and you get 29A (28.75). So your wire needs to have an ampacity of around 30A.

For my area of the world, that would mean I would need a #10AWG wire. That (in copper) has a cross section of 5.26mm so that would be a 6mm for your purpose. Your 8 sq mm falls between a 10AWG and an 8AWG from here

It'll work but I'd go bigger if available.

This "Is this still because of the aluminium cable or is it normal to get low voltage around this time since its peak summer time now" we really can't answer. We do not know what your power company supplies. I would imagine that they are having difficulty supplying sufficient power to the population during peak season.

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@oldturkey03 I live in India and generally here the power lines are made of Aluminium. Now I dont know exactly why the Electricity board provides aluminium cables to consumers but I read somewhere that aluminium is used for outdoor cable because its generally cheaper and lighter than copper for the same thickness of wire. And since you explained that it has a chance of corrosion if aluminium and copper are used together, so I guess its obvious to use aluminium wire from home to connect it to the main power line. Also about my power supplier, the company is TPCODL and in their website I found this "The declared voltage of LT (single phase) is 230 volts and medium voltage for 2 or 3 phase is 400 volts. High tension is 11 KV, 33 KV in three phase and 25 KV at single phase for existing railway Traction. Extra high tension supply is in three phase at 66 KV, 132 KV, 220 KV or 400 KV. It is also 220 KV/132 KV at two phase for existing Railway Traction". We have single phase supply in our locality.

13 mag 2023 da Adarsh Mohanty

@adarshmohanty I understand the aluminum wiring situation. It does make sense for your country's infrastructure. TPCODL may deliver that at the generating station but there are difference what the consumer receives at the house. You really would need to have some kind of watt meter or similar installed to the main line, to see what actually makes it to your house. There are so many variables that can decrease the power. I think you'll be okay with what you have done/are doing. The rest is really up to the delivery of power.

You may be running a little tight with the 5kW load capacity. I would think off increasing that if possible.

13 mag 2023 da oldturkey03

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@oldturkey03 I live in India and generally here the power lines are made of Aluminium. Now I dont know exactly why the Electricity board provides aluminium cables to consumers but I read somewhere that aluminium is used for outdoor cable because its generally cheaper and lighter than copper for the same thickness of wire. And since you explained that it has a chance of corrosion if aluminium and copper are used together, so I guess its obvious to use aluminium wire from home to connect it to the main power line. Also about my power supplier, the company is TPCODL and in their website I found this "The declared voltage of LT (single phase) is 230 volts and medium voltage for 2 or 3 phase is 400 volts. High tension is 11 KV, 33 KV in three phase and 25 KV at single phase for existing railway Traction. Extra high tension supply is in three phase at 66 KV, 132 KV, 220 KV or 400 KV. It is also 220 KV/132 KV at two phase for existing Railway Traction". We have single phase supply in our locality. — Adarsh Mohanty
@adarshmohanty I understand the aluminum wiring situation. It does make sense for your country's infrastructure. TPCODL may deliver that at the generating station but there are difference what the consumer receives at the house. You really would need to have some kind of watt meter or similar installed to the main line, to see what actually makes it to your house. There are so many variables that can decrease the power. I think you'll be okay with what you have done/are doing. The rest is really up to the delivery of power.

You may be running a little tight with the 5kW load capacity. I would think off increasing that if possible. — oldturkey03

Damaged Wire

Aluminium cable wire for domestic electric load supply

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