I have seen many examples of overkill and I often wonder if those who design and install electrical systems ever stop to think about the downsides to overkill.

I have read plenty of spec books where 3/4" conduit is the minimum size allowed, yet many of these conduits will only contain 3 to 5 #12 conductors. I never understood why engineers do this. On a job with tens or hundreds of thousands of feet of pipe, this adds up to a lot of extra money!

But another downside is not so apparent. What about the unnecesary consumption of resources? Sure, I know what you are thinking: copper and iron ore are in great abundance and realtively inexpensive at the moment. However, the problem is not with the resource itself, but the energy required to produce the resource. And energy, as we all now, must come from fossil fuels, nuclear, or hydro means.

I guess it's hard to convice people to conserve when a coil of 12/2 is $18 and a stick of 3/4 is $1.75.

Well, I'm going to keep doing my part. Reduce, reuse, recylce. Yes, this works with electrical stuff, too. [Linked Image] Am I way off base here?

I hope everyone doesn't think I'm a tree-hugging nut after this. [Linked Image]

Peter




[This message has been edited by CTwireman (edited 04-01-2003).]

Peter