Use the free Wire Weight Calculator below: your data never leaves your browser — all work happens on your device, and nothing is uploaded to any server.
Why Wire Weight Matters
Wire weight matters in more situations than people expect. Scrap dealers pay by weight, so knowing the copper in a spool tells you what it is worth. Installers need to know whether a reel can be carried, lifted, or hung safely. Shippers charge by weight, and a drum of thick copper cable can weigh hundreds of kilograms. This calculator gives you the bare conductor weight from gauge, material, and length, plus the weight per metre and the weight of a standard 100 metre spool.
The formula is cross-sectional area times length times density. Copper has a density of about 8,960 kilograms per cubic metre, and aluminium is about 2,700. That means a copper conductor weighs more than three times as much as an aluminium conductor of the same size. The calculator uses the standard cross-section for each AWG size, so you only need to pick the gauge and type the length.
How to Use the Calculator
Choose the wire gauge from the list. Each entry shows its cross-section in square millimetres, which helps if you are comparing with metric cable sizes. Then choose copper or aluminium. Enter the length in metres. For a single conductor, that is the length of the wire itself. For a multi-core cable, calculate one core first, then multiply by the number of cores if you need the total conductor weight.
The result shows three numbers: the total conductor weight, the weight per metre, and the weight of a 100 metre spool of the same wire. The per-metre figure is handy for pricing offcuts and estimating scrap, while the spool figure helps with transport and storage planning. All three describe the bare conductor only, without insulation, jacket, or spool.
A Worked Example
Take 100 metres of 14 AWG copper wire. Its cross-section is 2.08 square millimetres, and the calculator gives about 1.86 kilograms of copper. That is a weight you can carry in one hand. Now take 100 metres of 4/0 AWG copper, the thick cable used for large service entrances. Its cross-section is 107 square millimetres, and the same 100 metres weighs about 95.9 kilograms. That needs two people or a trolley, and it explains why thick cable arrives on drums, not in coils you toss over a shoulder.
Aluminium changes the picture dramatically. One hundred metres of 14 AWG aluminium weighs only about 0.56 kilograms, and 100 metres of 4/0 aluminium weighs about 28.9 kilograms. That weight saving is the main reason aluminium is used for overhead lines and large feeders, even though it needs thicker sizes to match copper electrically.
What the Calculator Does Not Include
Insulation adds real weight, especially on thick cables with heavy jackets, and armoured cable adds much more. A steel-wire-armoured cable can weigh several times its conductor weight. Spools, drums, and reels add weight too, and a wooden drum for thick cable can weigh tens of kilograms on its own. Treat the calculator result as the conductor weight, then add jacket and packaging allowances from the cable datasheet when you need a shipping weight.
Stranded versus solid wire makes almost no difference to weight at the same gauge, because the cross-section is nearly the same. Tinned copper weighs almost the same as bare copper, since the tin layer is extremely thin. If you need precision for a commercial quote, weigh a sample length and scale it, because manufacturing tolerances move real weight a few percent either way.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The most common mistake is forgetting that a cable has several conductors. A three-core cable has roughly three times the conductor weight of one core, plus the jacket. Another mistake is mixing up gauge direction: 10 AWG is thicker and heavier than 14 AWG, not lighter. A third mistake is quoting the conductor weight as the total cable weight to a shipper or scrap dealer, which understates the real load and causes surprises at the dock or the scale.
This calculator is an educational estimator. It estimates bare conductor weight from standard density and cross-section values, and it does not certify a shipment or a scrap valuation. Check your local electrical codes and consult a licensed electrician before doing any electrical work, and confirm commercial weights with a scale before quoting them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is copper so much heavier than aluminium? Copper is simply a denser metal: about 8,960 versus 2,700 kilograms per cubic metre, a ratio of about 3.3 to 1.
Does the calculator include the spool? No. It gives bare conductor weight only. Add the spool or drum weight separately.
Can I use it for scrap value? As a starting estimate, yes: multiply the copper weight by the current scrap price per kilogram. Scrap dealers pay for recovered metal, not for insulation, so conductor weight is the right basis.
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