![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Craft wire is expensive. 10 feet of bare copper wire, 16 gauge, can be bought for 6.95. 69.5 cents a foot. 18 gauge is 34.9 cents a foot. And 20 gauge is 49.5 cents a foot.
I just went to Home Depot and bought 5 feet of #4 THHN wire, containing 6 strands of 18 gauge copper wire and 13 strands of 16 gauge copper wire. I paid 59 cents a foot for it.
I also bought 5 feet of #8 THHN wire, containing 19 strands of 20 gauge copper wire. I paid 48 cents a foot for it.
In total, I ended up with:
65 feet of 16 gauge wire.
30 feet of 18 gauge wire.
95 feet of 20 gauge wire.
A grand total of 190 feet of wire. With tax, it came to $5.62
Averaged out, that's 2.95 cents a foot. Just less than three cents per foot.
It may not sound like much, but think about how much it would have cost me had I bought it from a traditional crafting supply shop at the rates I first mentioned:
65 feet of 16 gauge wire would have cost me $45.18.
30 feet of 18 gauge wire would have cost me $10.47
95 feet of 20 gauge wire would have cost me $47.02
$5.62 versus $102.67? Hmm... maybe not so minor a victory after all... :)
The same source where I got the heads up on this wire has stats for other varieties of THHN too. In case anyone else is interested in buying copper wire cheaper than crafting sources supply it, here they are:
I will note that I haven't stripped the outer covering from the wire yet to be absolutely certain of the gauges on the wire inside, but from a cursory look at the cut end the stats for the two I bought at least seem to be accurate.
I just went to Home Depot and bought 5 feet of #4 THHN wire, containing 6 strands of 18 gauge copper wire and 13 strands of 16 gauge copper wire. I paid 59 cents a foot for it.
I also bought 5 feet of #8 THHN wire, containing 19 strands of 20 gauge copper wire. I paid 48 cents a foot for it.
In total, I ended up with:
65 feet of 16 gauge wire.
30 feet of 18 gauge wire.
95 feet of 20 gauge wire.
A grand total of 190 feet of wire. With tax, it came to $5.62
Averaged out, that's 2.95 cents a foot. Just less than three cents per foot.
It may not sound like much, but think about how much it would have cost me had I bought it from a traditional crafting supply shop at the rates I first mentioned:
65 feet of 16 gauge wire would have cost me $45.18.
30 feet of 18 gauge wire would have cost me $10.47
95 feet of 20 gauge wire would have cost me $47.02
$5.62 versus $102.67? Hmm... maybe not so minor a victory after all... :)
The same source where I got the heads up on this wire has stats for other varieties of THHN too. In case anyone else is interested in buying copper wire cheaper than crafting sources supply it, here they are:
*12 gauge THHN contains 6 strands of 26ga 13 strands 24ga *10 gauge THHN contains 6 strands of 24ga 3 strands of 22ga *8 gauge THHN contains 19 strands of 20ga *6 gauge THHN contains 6 strands of 20ga 13 strands of 18ga #4 gauge THHN contains 6 strands of 18ga 13 strands of 16ga #2 gauge THHN believed to contain (but has not been confirmed) 6 strands of 16ga 13 strands of 14ga *0/1 (aught one) gauge THHN contains 6 strands of 14ga 13 strands of 12ga *0/2 (aught two) gauge THHN contains 6 of 14ga 12 of 11ga 1 of 10ga *0/3 (aught three) gauge THHN contains 6 of 12ga 13 of 10gaI don't have prices for each of these from Home Depot, but they should be comparable to the prices on the stuff I bought. Just go to the electrical section, where they have the rolls of wire, and ask for THHN by size. They should be able to give you exactly what you're looking for.
I will note that I haven't stripped the outer covering from the wire yet to be absolutely certain of the gauges on the wire inside, but from a cursory look at the cut end the stats for the two I bought at least seem to be accurate.
