Speaker wires outside - do they need to be covered? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Edgecombe]

Hello -

We just moved and my home theater will be in a part of the house that was added on to the rest of the house, meaning that on the other side of 3 of the walls is outside. It also sits on "stilts," so you can walk around underneath it when you are outside.

After looking around a bit, the best was to run the wires for the surrounds and rear surrounds without having them clutter up the room is just to drill through the wall behind where my recevier is, go all the way outside, run them along the side of the house outside and underneath the room, then drill back inside and run them through the walls.

If I go this route, should I use some kind of conduit to cover the wires, or will they be ok if they are exposed (I'm using 12 ga. wire, in wall rated)? There will be at least an overhang from the celing covering it most of the time, but they will probably still get wet at times. I'm guessing leaving them exposed is not the best idea, but I just wanted to be sure before I spent a bunch of money on PVC. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Jason

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

As long as they are covered and exposed to direct sunlight, they should be okay. If you’re worried, however, you could get some 12 ga. wire for outdoor low voltage lighting. Not sure how it stacks up for an in-wall rating, however.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Gene Severn]

The biggest problem with running speaker wires outside is their exposure to sunlight. The UV rays will degrade the jacket in no time. Therefore, either use wire rated for sunlight exposure, or route then thru grey electrical conduit which is rated for exposure to sunlight in addition to protecting them from physical damage.

 

[KenA]

Don't forget about animal damage. Rodents love to gnaw on wires.