Different types of conduit can be used when installing and wiring Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) units. Many installations use a combination of liquid tight conduit and flexible conduit, which are readily available at electrical supply stores.
Flexible Metal Conduit (FMC) in either steel or aluminum, can be used to run power and control wires to HVAC equipment, provided the conduit is used inside the building only and not exposed to wet conditions or the outdoors. For outdoor runs and wet locations, such as wiring to roof-top condensers and exterior motors, liquidtight conduits must be used to prevent the THHN/THWN conductors from getting damaged or exposed.
AFC Cable Systems® offers a variety of metallic and non-metallic liquidtight conduits, ranging from our standard Liquid-Tuff UL and CSA listed Liquidtight Flexible Metal Conduits (LFMC) and Liquidtight Flexible Non-metallic Conduits (LFNC) to specialized products intended for the extremes of temperature and UV exposure that can be encountered in hotter and colder environments.
Using flexible and liquidtight conduits allows the contractor or DIY installer to complete the installation more easily than with rigid conduits. All they need to do is to cut the conduit to length and then install, without any pipe bending required! It should be noted that when installing liquidtight conduits, wet location rated fittings and connectors are also required.
Per the National Electrical Code (NEC) liquidtight conduits are only required for wiring runs in wet conditions or outside of the building (including burial) but for ease of installation and the sake of consistency, installers have the option of continuing the liquidtight conduit run into the building to the panel.
When looking for additional guidance on code requirements for HVAC, refer to the ASHRAE website.
We welcome you to browse our full line of Liquid-Tuff Liquidtight flexible conduit products, while you can find an assortment of compatible flexible and liquidtight conduit fittings and connectors through Konkore Fittings.