Calculating Wire Gauge for Length & Amp Rating

[Londmar]

Need help. Is there a simple formula to calculate the gauge of wire to use vs. length for a know amp rating of a device.

I have a device I need to install a couple of hundred feet from the house and know the amps it pulls but do not know the formula to figure the best gauge wire to run to it from a breaker.

Thanks.

Thanks, that helped a lot.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF, Londmar. There was a thread a while back that I remembered, and was able to find with a search on the word gauge in this EE forum. This should get you going:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=82795

 

[Gokul43201]

Need help. Is there a simple formula to calculate the gauge of wire to use vs. length for a know amp rating of a device.

No. The wire gauge you use is independent of length, unless you want to minimize transmission loss. If you've got voltage to spare and don't want to overspend on wire, just pick the gauge on the basis of the current draw - any wire gauge table will give you this data (look up AWG).