Below are a few distinctions between load and line wires.
A wire used to carry amp loads is also known as a branch circuit, and will usually be found in the distribution panel of your home. Alternatively, a single line wire provides access for new circuits with or without services requested (i.e., typical on premise wiring). Wiring that supplies power (loads) to an outlet from the service side of a breaker is called load wiring. Load wiring always reflects the high potential voltage between the hot lines at each receptacle or fixture capped by ground. Branch-circuit cable typically does not need this protection because current can’t stray toward ground; receptacles are normally downstream from breakers anyway and there’s good contact with ground through their boxes, receptacles and the earth itself.
A wire used to carry amp loads is also known as a branch circuit, and will usually be found in the distribution panel of your home. Alternatively, a single line wire provides access for new circuits with or without services requested (i.e., typical on premise wiring). Wiring that supplies power (loads) to an outlet from the service side of a breaker is called load wiring. Load wiring always reflects the high potential voltage between the hot lines at each receptacle or fixture capped by ground. Branch-circuit cable typically does not need this protection because current can’t stray toward ground; receptacles are normally downstream from breakers anyway and there’s good contact with ground through their boxes, receptacles and the earth itself.
Load wires are used to power all of the household and kitchen appliances. Line wires connect all of the load wires in a circuit back to the panel box, and provide an alternate pathway for electricity should there be an interruption on one or more load lines.
Load wires collectively carry the power to the load. These wires can be driven from different sources, either through a connection to another circuit feeding into our branch box (assuming we have a load feed), or by connecting strings of lights together independent of other circuits (running parallel). In this latter case, loads “share” electricity from common incoming and outgoing lines, but the whole string will likely darken if any one wire fails between fixtures in that particular string. Line wire usually carries power directly to an end fixture. Both wiring methods are used and depend on designer’s preference according to application needs and space constraints as well as allowable currents per conductor in various residential electrical codes.
You should always keep the load wires closest to where you will be using, or integrating, the light source. So if you’re going to be integrating your light bulbs in a lampshade, line wires are used and vice versa.
The big difference is how they work. Load wires use voltage transformers or dimmers to change the device’s power consumption and intensity of output. Line wire fixtures require more wattage than load wire fixtures and do not contain any transformers within their construction as they are designed for installed lamps or stationary posts that do not require altering their electrical properties with a dimmer switch or transformer in order to reduce power from them when necessary. Load wires can turn on quickly while line wiring takes much longer for electricity to activate.
Load wire fixtures are also typically more versatile than line wire fixtures, for example being able to be dimmed or set to different colors.
Overall, load wire fixtures are appropriate for illuminating areas where line wiring isn’t feasible. That includes individual lamps in a room where you want to control the specific brightness of each bulb. Line wires are used for decorative lighting where dimming isn’t necessary, say under cabinet lights in a kitchen or outdoor lighting on a deck.
A load is a device that consumes electricity. A line wire is a conductor, or wire, transmitting an electric current from one place to another.
Wires carry electrical energy from source to destination. Loads use the power as an energy input and do not transmit it onwards (to other loads). In single-phase alternating current circuits, wires are connected between the live wire of the system and a ground point called neutral–hence “line” or “neutral”. In three phase AC circuits, only one of two opposing live wires is grounded per phase (i.e., all equipment connections in these systems are 240 volts). The third line/phase of these systems has no connection at its end so if voltage were lost on this line/phase the live wires would not be grounded.
Line wires are high voltage wires and load wires are low voltage wires.
In a power distribution system, they’re often drawn as thick red lines and thin blue lines. Line transmission is typically at a set nominal current, usually 13,000 volts for USA systems, which can be thought of as constant amount of electricity that the wire will carry on its own without any other contributions such as transformers or reactors to increase the generated voltage. Load transmission is at a much lower nominal current than line transmission and is essentially just enough to operate an electric device with no unneeded energy left over when done operating the equipment. Loads need transformers or reactors because it’s hard for them to get their electricity needs met by just one wire due to the losses in wiring.
Load wires are the two fat wires in the electric light cable. Line wires are thinner and provide a higher current for appliances that require more power such as a toaster.
Line wires generally carry more voltage per wire than load wire, because they deliver higher currents at a lower cost-per-ampere (wires can be transmitted over longer distances). Switching appliances on or off usually requires one line, but sometimes two line are needed. Multiple load wires typically carry less current and use less energy without any special switching requirements, but may need individual switches that correspond with their applications (for example, there might be an outlet for lighting fixtures in one room of the house and an outlet for electric heating units in another).
Load lines are one form of wiring specifically used in homes that results in less liability and claim responsibility when things go awry.
Load lines are designed to offer protection for the home’s inhabitants against accidents, injury or death due to electrical dangers. In short, they’re a means of legally “availing” oneself from liability by reducing risks pertaining to electricity (i.e., who you might be able to sue if someone gets electrocuted by touching a bare wire). Utilization of load lines isn’t recommended unless there is an emergency or something specific going on–they may actually increase your risk of death when inspected on an annual basis and up-to-date with code.
Load wire is for when alternating current (AC) travels from a generator or another AC source, through the transmission system, to be converted by a transformer outside your house. Line wire carries the electricity within your home.
Many people are not aware that there is a difference between load and line wires because they have never been taught it in school, and most often just use them interchangeably without thinking about it. The main purpose of load wires is to carry 1-way alternating currents through an electric grid. That might sound like their design goal sounds fairly unnecessary if you are reading this as someone working on your own property who has just cut one of these cables with no further intent for using it… but line wires have many important uses beyond simply carrying 1-way AC currents.
-Load wires are the low voltage line (typically 12VDC) wiring running to a load.
-Line wires are parallel circuits providing a higher voltage power to other loads. For example, the output of a generator is typically 110VAC which would be carried on two 240V line wires and one ground wire.
A building is usually wired with both loads and lines in order to have the highest reliability and safety levels possible while still allowing flexibility during installation.
