Comparison

Southwire® Conversion Calc vs House Electrical Design Tools

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Southwire® Conversion Calc

This utility app facilitates conversions between copper and aluminum electrical wiring. It allows users to calculate pricing, unit of measure, conversion factors, and weight based on product length. The app comes preloaded with numerous cable types for easy calculation.

Highlights
  • Copper to aluminum conversion
  • Aluminum to copper conversion
  • Pricing unit of measure calculation
  • Conversion factor calculation
  • Weight per product length calculation
  • Preloaded cable data
Features
Read full description

Southwire's Conversion Calculator helps to convert copper to aluminum or aluminum to copper, pricing unit of measure, conversion factor and weight per product length. Preloaded with many cables for calculation.

About

House Electrical Design Tools

Features
Read full description

This app is a complete residential electrical engineering platform for single-family house design, built around NEC 2023 compliance. It combines an interactive 17-phase design workflow with a 30-drawing engineering gallery and three fully functional NEC engineering calculators. INTERACTIVE NEC CALCULATORS NEC Load Calculator (Article 220 Standard Method) Enter floor area, appliance loads, HVAC, EV chargers, and solar PV backfeed. This app applies NEC demand factors from Table 220.42, dryer minimums per Section 220.54, range demand from Table 220.55, and fixed-appliance factors per Section 220.53 to compute total demand load and recommend the correct service size (100A through 600A). Voltage Drop Calculator (NEC 210.19 / 215.2) Select copper or aluminum conductor, choose single-phase or branch circuit, pick conductor size from #14 AWG to 500 kcmil, then enter load current and one-way run length. This app calculates voltage drop using the circular-mil formula (VD = 2KIL/CM) and instantly shows pass/fail status against NEC 3% branch and 5% combined targets. NEC Code Quiz 20 multiple-choice questions covering NEC 2023 residential requirements: receptacle spacing (Section 210.52), AFCI protection (Section 210.12), GFCI locations (Section 210.8), service sizing (Section 230.79), grounding electrode systems (Section 250.52), load calculations, conductor ratings, and more. Detailed explanations appear after each answer. 17-PHASE ENGINEERING WORKFLOW Step-by-step workflow from site assessment through system commissioning, covering permit applications, load calculations, panel design, grounding systems, branch circuit layout, AFCI and GFCI coordination, and final inspection. 30-DRAWING ENGINEERING GALLERY Full design package including service entrance one-lines, panel schedules, grounding electrode diagrams, branch circuit layouts, receptacle and device plans, load calculation worksheets, conduit routing diagrams, and project-specific details. PHASE DELIVERABLES TRACKER Track completion status across all 17 design phases with a built-in deliverables checklist. NEC 2023 DESIGN GUIDE Comprehensive reference covering NEC Articles 100, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 310, 406, and 440 as applied to single-family residential projects. DISCLAIMER This app is intended as an educational reference and design aid for licensed electrical engineers, electricians, inspectors, and students. All calculations and content are based on the 2023 National Electrical Code published by NFPA. Actual designs must be reviewed and stamped by a licensed professional engineer registered in the jurisdiction of the project. Local amendments to the NEC may apply. The developer assumes no liability for designs prepared using this app. Always verify compliance with the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) before construction.

Screenshots

Southwire® Conversion Calc4 screens
House Electrical Design Tools4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Southwire® Conversion Calc at Free against House Electrical Design Tools's $2.99. House Electrical Design Tools's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Southwire® Conversion Calc is free to download; House Electrical Design Tools costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Southwire® Conversion Calc ships an update every 4 months, House Electrical Design Tools weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Southwire® Conversion Calc versus House Electrical Design Tools: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSouthwire® Conversion CalcHouse Electrical Design Tools
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.2 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSouthwire CompanyYuhsiu Lai

In-app purchases

None

Southwire® Conversion Calc

No in-app purchases

None

House Electrical Design Tools

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Southwire® Conversion Calc free?
Southwire® Conversion Calc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is House Electrical Design Tools free?
House Electrical Design Tools costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Southwire® Conversion Calc or House Electrical Design Tools have ads?
Neither Southwire® Conversion Calc nor House Electrical Design Tools shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Southwire® Conversion Calc or House Electrical Design Tools?
Southwire® Conversion Calc ships an update every 4 months, and House Electrical Design Tools weekly. Most recently, Southwire® Conversion Calc was updated on October 2, 2026 and House Electrical Design Tools on October 1, 2026.

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