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Plenum rated data cable low voltage cabling

Onsite IT Services – Is Plenum Cable Required for Low-Voltage Cabling?

Learn about plenum-rated cables and their importance in low-voltage data cabling. Discover how Onsite IT Services can help ensure a safe, reliable network for your business.

Plenum-rated data cable is derived from an old HVAC term referring to “plenum spaces”.  A plenum space is the division of a building that facilitates air circulation by providing pathways for heated/air-conditioned and return air-flows at a higher pressure than typical.

Simply put, plenum-rated data cabling services have an extra fire retard applied to the shielding portion of the cable making it more resistant to heat and less likely to cause fires vs. non-plenum cable which does not have this extra layer of fire protection.

Plenum rated data cables
Plenum Cat5 Data Cable for Low Voltage Data Cabling

The choices of On-site IT Support available for different cable products these days are very abundant. Every day new options are being introduced into the electrical market. Whether it be from the parameters changing to the different variations, the choices are becoming more and more plentiful as time goes on. One option; however, which is usually the first thing a person takes into consideration when purchasing cable remains pretty constant. This is whether or not the cable to be used will need to be plenum rated or non-plenum rated. Here’s the difference between the two:

Plenum rated cable vs non plenum rated cables

There are two basic types of building construction as it regards the movement of heating, air conditioning, and ventilation through office buildings. In these modern times, every business needs a reliable cabling system to handle their voice and data needs. If you do not want any untoward delay in your operations due to a massive system failure then you should only get the services of reliable network cabling services. As the years pass, more and more technological innovations seem to pop out of the woodwork, and this is all the more reason why you should get a cabling system that can manage all of these new devices and infrastructures so your business can reap all of their benefits.

In newer construction and in most high-rise construction the architects save space and the cost of expensive sheet metal return air ducts by simply drawing the air back to the heating/air condition unit through the open spaces above the ceiling and between the walls.