# Thermostate wire enough?



## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Is 18 ga thermostate wire good enough for switches?


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Need more Info 


Outside / Inside?


Distance from the supply? 


Are you going to put it in Pipe or something? 


The distance is the big killer. The farther you are from the supply could cause Voltage Drop in the wire. 


Environment is next. What is going to happen if it is outside. 


Solid wire that size can break with movement. Can be a pain in the neck and some may have a lower opinion. 


JJ


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Gonna be outside but in conduit. Distance to switch depends but 60' to 80'. I looked at the sprinkler wire but its in a pretty stiff jacket being made for direct burial.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I use Telephone wire for my EPL drives with the LGB booster, and ran 30 feet of wire with no issues. 
So, try it temporarily before running it through the conduit.


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

Thermostat wire will work but, if any part of the inner conductors jacket is exposed (or buried in dirt) the jacket deteriorates rather quickly and fall off leaving bare exposed wires. 
The outer jacket on the thermostat cable holds up a little better, but the inner conductor covering is not made for weather... or dirt.


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