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I would like to use my garage lighting circuit for my garage door opener but I need to extend it 5 feet.

The lighting circuit is 14/2 wire but I have 12/2 wire.

Should I buy a 6 foot piece of 14/2 wire or could I use the 12/2 wire for that length?

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  • What do the garage door specifications say about the power requirements for the opener?
    – Jim Stewart
    Commented Nov 11, 2017 at 22:11
  • You mean 12/2 wire right?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Nov 11, 2017 at 22:13
  • What type of wire? Is it in conduit? Romex? How many conductors?
    – user4302
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 5:36

3 Answers 3

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You can use #12 to extend a 15-A circuit wired with #14.

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Keep in mind if you use the lighting wiring to power the opener, whenever the lights are off the opener will not work.

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  • 2
    It's good to point out to the poster that if the lights are operated by a wall switch and the power enters at the switch box, then there will not be always hot in the light box. But the power could well enter at the ceiling box so there could be always hot available there.
    – Jim Stewart
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 0:25
  • Unless he taps into the circuit before it is switched.
    – ArchonOSX
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 17:34
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Just use the 12/2. You're always allowed to upsize wire.

How does that work with circuit rating? The smallest wire on the circuit decides the circuit rating (in amps) so the smallest will still be 14 AWG and the circuit will still be 15A.

Now, you have to watch your connections. Wire-nutting 12 to 14 is no problem (I nut 12 to 18 all the time). If your receptacle uses back-stab connections, those are not compatible with 12AWG wire, so you'll need to use the screws. However you can't mix screws and stabs, so you'll need to use the screws for all the wires. The $3 screw-and-clamp type receptacles help with this (they can also handle 4 wires per side!)

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