Riverside Electrical specializes in commercial and industrial electrical work. Be sure to review our electrical services and see why we are the commercial electrician for you! We often get questions about residential work too. We are here to help you with all your electrical needs. Let’s take a minute to review the differences between commercial wiring and residential wiring.

The three main differences between commercial and residential electrical wiring are:

  • Energy Needs
  • Load Demands
  • Equipment Setup

Residential Electrical Wiring

Residential electrical wiring is covered within a sheath insulation. This jacket is designed to protect you from getting shocked. Most residential wiring are single phase units. A single phase unit will run 120 Volts on three wires, a positive, negative, and neutral wire. For more energy demanding appliances like a refrigerator or an air conditioning unit these will use a two-phase circuit. A two-phase circuit will run 240 Volts. In residential projects the wiring is typically installed in attics crawl spaces and within the walls.

Commercial Electrical Wiring

Typically in commercial electrical work the wiring uses a three-phase design. A three-phase electrical system is designed to distribute the workload between the wires. When the wires work together it results in a higher output. For example, in a three-phase system there is one wide leg running 208 Volts and two thinner legs running 120 Volts each. Since the energy output is spread among the legs it results in better efficiency and your equipment will last longer.

Commercial environments, like an office building, requires higher voltage because of higher power demands. Think of all the outlets, lights, computers and the amount of energy and electricity that an office building will use.

Another thing to remember when thinking about commercial wiring is that it will also have a higher level of insulation. Higher levels of insulation helps to protect the wiring from corrosive liquids and gases. This is also known as TTHT, or thermoplastic, high-heat resistant, nylon coated. If a business has sensitive equipment or equipment that uses a lot of power, special outlets can be installed to make sure everything will work simultaneously.

So where is all this wiring installed? For commercial projects the wiring can be run through conduits or ceiling rafters. This allows easy access if the wiring job needs to be serviced in the future.


Over 25 years of experience in commercial, industrial and residential work.

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Call Riverside Electrical today! (951) 785-9531 

Visit our website to read the complete list of our services on the Our Services tab! Have an electrical question about something not listed on our site? Call Riverside Electrical today at (951) 785-9531 for any of your Riverside Electrical construction questions. If we do not pick up, be sure to leave us a voicemail with your name and number so we can get back to you as soon as possible!

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