On Aug 26, 9:36*am, wrote:
I was in the electrical dept the other day having some wire cut. *A
lady pushing a cart comes along to ask the guy, who from all
indications didn't know much, which wire is the right one to use to
hook up her new stove. *In the cart are Romex and armored cable, both
14 gauge. *She was most concerned about getting the right kind to use
in crawl space. *She asked him if the armored was intended for use
outdoors, which he avoided. *It was also clear that she had spoken to
him earlier before picking out her wire. * *After watching this for a
couple mins, I did my best to get the lady pointed in the right
direction, which was to tell her she most likely needs a 40 or 50 amp
circuit, heavier wire capable of that kind of load and to go back to
the appliance dept to find out what the stove installation manual
called for and to seek an electrician.

I find it curious how someone with no technical knowledge can go from
buying a stove to picking out 50ft of wire to hook it up.

"I find it curious how someone with no technical knowledge can go
from buying a stove to picking out 50ft of wire to hook it up."

Don't blame her.

There are basically three levels of knowledge:

1 - We know what we know.
2 - We know what we don't know.
3 - We don't know what we don't know.

She was at level 3: She didn't know what she didn't know.

In many instances I'm at Level 2. For example, I know that there are a
multitude of wire sizes and I know that there are different
specifications for different applications, but I also know that I
don't always know which spec fits which application. Level 2 is an OK
place to be, because as long you know that you don't know, you know
that you have some homework to do.

Level 3, however, is a dangerous place. When you don't know what you
don't know, you can easily assume that you *do* know.

In her case, she probably didn't even know that there was so many
things that she didn't know, so buying some wire probably seemed like
a simple task. Hopefully your advice moved her up to Level 2, making
her realize that she was in over her head.