Hello- I am in need of some help. I am in the midst of installing two exterior lamp posts and two receptacles. My intent is to run the two lamp fixtures on one 15-amp circuit using 14-2 (plus ground) wire; and a separate 20-amp circuit for the two receptacles using 12-2 (plus ground) wire. The run is less than 100'. I'm not concerned about the voltage drop.
I've trenched down 18" and placed the 3/4" gray PVC piping in position. I Went to my local home improvement center to buy the wire. I understand that there are some wires that have what seems to be a dual rating: THHN (high heat resistant) and THWN (heat & water resistant).
The particular brand that is in stock is the SIMpull romex type NM-B for indoor applications; manufactured by the South Wire Co.; it is obviously not rated for wet locations- I verified this at their web site- the wire is a THHN rated wire; contrary to what the clerk working in the electrical department of the home improvement center said. He recommended that I could still use the wires by stripping the outer sheathing and running the wires through the conduit.
My first question is, should I trek over to an electrical supply house and buy the single solid strand of THWN of each gauge wire (by color, e.g black, white, & green) to be code compliant?
Does the ground wire have to be coated or can it lay bare in the conduit? (Remember, if I follow the store clerk's instructions- predicated that his wire was THWN rated, I would be sleeving a bare copper wire through the conduit- where condensation will build up at the very least.)
RE: the receptacles, should they both be GFCIs (exterior rated, of course)?
Thanks in advance! ~Buzzy