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[Jwood]

Heading to get supplies what size wire and what size circuit breaker do I need to get? 12/2 and 15amp? Thanks for the help!

[slimjim]

You got it!!!

[Jwood]

Awesome thanks I just never saw anything in the manual I got with my boiler.

[Jwood]

One more question I have is would it be ok to buy indoor wire and run it in half inch PVC or no?

[mlappin]

One more question I have is would it be ok to buy indoor wire and run it in half inch PVC or no?

You talking indoor romex thru conduit? Technically that's a no-no, least I was always told it was. Not a lot of difference in price between indoor, underground or outdoor romex price wise.

When I redo mine I planned on burying three quarter inch conduit and pulling individual wires, go with the three quarters, not much more than half inch and a hell of a lot easier to get a fish tape thru than a half inch conduit.

[Jwood]

Thanks everyone!

[coolidge]

Maybe even a 3 wire instead of 2?

[mlappin]

Maybe even a 3 wire instead of 2?

I planned on at least three wires and a ground. One coming back to the house for an automatic fill in case of low water.

[Jwood]

So 12/3 or 12/2?

[Roger2561]

So 12/3 or 12/2?

I cannot speak for the other posters but yes, 12/3 is what believe they are saying.  It will have a black, red, white and bare copper for ground.   Good luck with your project.  Roger

[Jwood]

I'm no electrician so why do some say 12/2 and some say 12/3?

[mlappin]

I'm no electrician so why do some say 12/2 and some say 12/3?

12/2 is 12 gauge wire with two conductors and is usually inferred thats with a bare ground. 12/3 would be 12 gauge with 3 conductors. 10/3 would be 10 gauge with 3 conductors, and so on. Some of the cords I use around the farm for portable apps might be 10/3 wG or 10/4. Either one is a 4 conducter cord with a green wire for ground.

Local codes may say otherwise but different gauges for different amperage.

10 gauge is good for 30 amps
12 gauge is good for 25 amps
14 gauge is good for 20 amps

However local building codes may say 14 gauge can only be used up to 15 amps.

A very handy app that I've had on all my smartphones is Elec Ref, Electrical Reference App from Trunnion LLC.

It lists everything from how many wires you can fit in a conduit, transformer size, resistor coding,  and proper size of wire to use based on temp and aluminum or copper wire.

http://www.trunnion.info/elecref.html

They also have a handy app for machinists as well.

http://www.trunnion.info/mechtool.html

[Jwood]

Thanks mlappin I knew most of that I guess but what is the benefit of using a 12/3 vs a 12/2 on a wood boiler sorry if I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be.

[mlappin]

Thanks mlappin I knew most of that I guess but what is the benefit of using a 12/3 vs a 12/2 on a wood boiler sorry if I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be.

Oh lets say you use the black and white wires to get juice to the stove, the third wire could be connected to a temp probe to sound a alarm in the house if it boils over or a low water probe could be used power a light in the house. Or the third wire could be used to power an external weatherproof receptacle on the stove for a shop vac or whatever. I'm running 12/3 as well but my 3rd wire will run from a low water sensor in the stove to a solenoid valve in the basement.

Always easiest to run a spare wire or two and not use them than try to pull them later.

[Jwood]

Now that answers my question thanks a bunch!