{"id":2444,"date":"2025-05-19T12:21:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.netceed.uk\/?post_type=news&p=2444"},"modified":"2025-05-19T12:24:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:24:50","slug":"rhw-rhw-2-use-2-and-rhh-building-wire-explained","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/news\/rhw-rhw-2-use-2-and-rhh-building-wire-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"RHW, RHW-2, USE-2 and RHH Building Wire \u2013 Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

As mentioned in the article\u00a0THHN vs. XHHW: What Is the Difference?<\/a>, there are a lot of somewhat confusing abbreviations used on wires and cables. We broke down THHN and XHHW in that article, now let\u2019s tackle RHW, RHW-2, USE-2 and RHH building wire.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All electric wires and cables must be labeled appropriately by following the\u00a0National Electric Code (NEC)\u00a0guidelines. This way consumers know exactly what type of wire they are using.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

RHW and RHW-2<\/h3>\n

R =<\/strong>\u00a0Rubber Insulation
\nA\u00a0rubber outer layer that is very important when it comes to copper cables, especially when those cables are utilized in possible hazardous environments. Like XHHW and XHHW-2, RHW-2 wires are insulated by cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). Even though the \u201cR\u201d stands for rubber, it also incorporates other neoprene insulations that XLPE falls under.<\/p>\n

H =\u00a0<\/strong>Heat Resistance of 75\u00b0 C
\nCables must be able to withstand the elements. The insulation\u2019s length and width determine\u00a0its heat resistance. The thinner the XPLE insulation, the less resistant it is to heat.<\/p>\n

W =<\/strong>\u00a0Water Resistance<\/p>\n

Possibly the most important factor when considering the environment of your wire. The \u201cW\u201d means the cables can be submerged in water if needed. Even though the wire has a rubber outer layer and is acceptable for use in damp environments, the \u201cW\u201d designation is required for use in the presence of water and other liquids.<\/p>\n

RHW and RHW-2 \u2013 The Difference:<\/strong><\/p>\n

RHW \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0RHW cable is a wire insulated by rubber or XLPE as mentioned above. RHW cable can withstand heat up to\u00a075\u00b0 C<\/strong>, and is water resistant. It is acceptable to use RHW cables underground and in wet locations.
\nRHW-2 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Having the same inherent qualities as RHW, the NEC lists RHW-2 as having the ability to withstand heats of up to\u00a090\u00b0 C<\/strong>.\u00a0RHW-2 cable is suitable for direct burial in both wet or dry conditions.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

USE-2<\/h3>\n

U =<\/strong>\u00a0Underground
\nS =<\/strong>\u00a0Service
\nE =<\/strong>\u00a0Entrance<\/p>\n

USE-2 cable stands for Underground Service Entrance cable. USE-2 cable can be used underground since it is able withstand pressure and is resistant to other elements such as sunlight (black only), oil and gas. USE-2 is a good choice for industrial applications where better insulation toughness and resistance to moisture and heat are desired. USE-2 can be used as RHW-2 or RHH cable at temperatures up to 90\u00b0C in wet or dry locations.<\/p>\n

What does the \u201c-2\u201d stand for? It is a designation used for the 90\u00b0 C temperature rating. In the past, there was a plain USE, but it is now generally considered obsolete and replaced by USE-2.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

RHH<\/h3>\n

Very similar to RHW\/RHW-2 cable. As mentioned above, the\u00a0R<\/strong>\u00a0stands for Rubber \u2013 but in this case the extra \u201cH\u201d, or\u00a0HH<\/strong>\u00a0in RHH, stands for High Heat resistance of 90\u00b0 C. The trade-off is that RHH cable does not possess the water resistance characteristic of RHW \/ RHW-2 cable.<\/p>\n

Similarities:<\/strong>\u00a0Both RHH and RHW \/ RHW-2 cable\u00a0hold a 600 V rating. Both cables can be found in lighting, power systems and general wiring applications \u2013 depending on the location and environmental conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2446,"template":"","news-subjects":[68,70,63],"class_list":["post-2444","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-subjects-america","news-subjects-blog","news-subjects-insight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2445,"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2444\/revisions\/2445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netceed.com\/fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-subjects?post=2444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}