Aluminum triplex wire consists of two leads, a hot lead that carries power to a building, and a neutral lead that completes the circuit. Triplex wire also consists of a third lead that can serve as a ground or which can contain a steel crossmember that helps support the weight of the wire, particularly when it is used in aerial installation. This crossmember also helps prevent the wire from sagging due to the influence of snow, ice, or wind loading. 

Aluminum triplex wire is also a highly preferred alternative to copper wire for power service entry to homes and buildings, for some of the reasons that will be explored here. 

It’s Less Expensive 

This is the main advantage of aluminum triplex wire. As of the time of this publication, copper is priced at roughly 42 cents, whereas aluminum is priced at roughly 9 cents per ounce. Copper, being more than four times the cost of aluminum at the present time, should tell you most, if not all of what you need to know. 

Those costs add up, especially since copper is also used in plumbing and in other wiring in the home, as well as in other areas in construction. If it weren’t for the superior economic viability of aluminum wire, construction costs would be even higher than they are, and they’re pretty high as it is. 

It’s Lighter 

The lower weight of aluminum offers two advantages, one of which hearkens back to cost. Because copper is heavier, it costs more to transport it as freight than it does aluminum. This improves the relative value of aluminum as an electrical conductor. 

But aluminum, being lighter, is also therefore easier and more practical to handle, lowering labor costs and potentially even reducing fatigue among those who are working with it.

It Has a Higher Conductivity to Weight 

Copper is a better electrical conductor than aluminum, that is the truth. But there is a metric known as conductivity to weight, and on this front, aluminum is superior. 

What this means is that, given the same weight, aluminum can actually carry a higher current and voltage than the corresponding copper conductor.

Any Bare Conductors Will Prove More Corrosion Resistant 

Sometimes aluminum conductors are used for overhead aerial installations as well as for overhead power transmission, such as with high tension power lines. Often these conductors are uninsulated because air is a great conductor and it saves costs not to insulate the wires. 

Aluminum in some installations can be considered superior here to copper because copper is highly suspect to corrosion whereas aluminum forms a thin oxide layer on its surface that helps prevent corrosion from traveling. This can make aluminum wires more practical for installation in some areas in which they will be more consistently subjected to corrosive influences. 

It Is Still Highly Malleable and Flexible

It is true that copper maintains a higher tensile strength than aluminum, and high-quality copper used to make electrical wires can generally withstand a greater number of stress cycles than aluminum, but all the same, aluminum remains highly malleable and flexible. 

For most intents and purposes, this makes aluminum easier to handle, since it can be flexed and bent in the same manner as copper electrical wire and cable. 

Aerial Installation Is More Feasible 

There are two main ways in which power service entry wires are installed; underground and overhead, also known as aerial installations. 

Underground cables must be suitable for direct burial and of course, electrical wire and cable intended to be installed overhead must be suitable for that application. Often aluminum is the best in the latter case. 

Aluminum, being lighter, requires less infrastructure to support it, which makes it in many cases more suitable for aerial installations. While copper has a higher tensile strength, as stated, aluminum triplex wire is often supported by a steel crossmember that helps prevent it from sagging. 

Explore Aluminum Triplex Wire Here 

These are some of the best reasons that aluminum triplex wire is often used in preference to copper electrical wire and cable for power service entry to homes, businesses and other buildings. While there are others, these are some of the major ones. 

Need a new wholesale electrical wire supplier that sells aluminum triplex wire and other aluminum wires, such as quadruplex wire? We have you covered. 

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