# 220 Volt Wire Size Calculator

Created by Arturo Barrantes
Reviewed by Wojciech Sas, PhD candidate
Last updated: May 02, 2022

The 220 volt wire size calculator will help you determine the appropriate electrical wire for your next house installation. Do you want to install a new bell, maybe a new water pump? Keep reading to find out how to size your cables.

## How to calculate the size of a 220 volt wire?

The following information is required before we start:

• Wire size material since it affects the electrical resistivity.
• Distance between your energy source and the equipment you want to energize.
• The amount of current your equipment needs.

Once we have it all, we will use the following formula:

$\quad A = \frac{2\times I \varrho L}{V \times \%\text{drop}},$

where:

• $\%\text{drop}$ — Allowable voltage drop, in %.
• $V$ — Source voltage, measured in volts.
• $I$ — Maximum current running through the wire, measured in amps;
• $\varrho$ — Resistivity of the conductor material, measured in ohm meters;
• $L$ — Length of the wire, measured in meters; and
• $A$ — Cross-sectional area of the wire measured in square meters.

The result will be expressed in mm² (if using the metric system).

It is common for wires to indicate their size in AWG (American Wire Gauge) units. Our wire gauge calculator relates circular cross area in mm² to AWG, but do not worry; our 220-volt wire size calculator also provides results in AWG.

## How do you use this 220 volt wire size calculator?

1. Verify your connection will be 220 volt alternate current.
3. Define the amount of current your equipment need. For example, a 1 HP pump connected to a 220 volts single phase will require 3.39 amperes.
4. Finally, input the length of your cable (remember it's a one-way distance).

As a result, the 220-volt wire size calculator will indicate the cross area of the cable you need to install.

## Other useful tools like the 220 volt wire size calculator

Since you already know how to size a 220 volts wire, you can take a look at other calculators:

## FAQ

### What wire size should I use for a 20 amp 220 volt circuit?

10 AWG or 2.38 mm of wire diameter. Try our 220-volt wire size calculator or follow these steps:

1. Multiply 20 amperes per two times cable distance and then by the material resistivity.
2. Divide the result by the voltage drop. Here, you get the cross-section area which you can convert to AWG by using internet charts. For the calculation, we assume a maximum wire size length of 39 m (one-way).

### What size wire for 50 amp 220 volt circuit?

6 AWG. In our 220-volt wire size calculator:

1. Make sure you are in AC single-phase mode.
2. Add 50 amps in the Current section.
3. Define the one-way distance of your wire, and you will get 6 AWG as a result. For the calculation, we assume a maximum wire size length of 46 m (one-way).
Arturo Barrantes
Allowable voltage drop (V)
%
Conductor material
Copper
Current (I)
A
One-way distance (L)
ft
Maximum wire temperature
°F
Recommended wire size
Wire cross-sectional area (A)
kcmil
Wire gauge
AWG
Wire diameter (d)
in
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