[ale] Plenum cabling..

[deritchie at earthlink.net]

Folks,
  Plenum cable is way overkill for residential installations. It is only needed when you are running wire through
a duct or across a suspended ceiling that is used as a air return. Typically you would only see this in a commerical
building.  The plenum ratiing is required by the National Electrical Code so that if the cable catches fire, smoke
from the burning jacket will not poison the air flowing through the air handling system of the building.

  The difference is material used for the cable jacket - standard cables have a PVC jacket and the smoke 
produced if that cable catches fire  is quite toxic. However, for residential circuits, standard cat 5e or 6 is quite fine, particularly if it is behind drywall.  I would recommend spending  your money on something else!

Best regards,
Dave Ritchie
Disclaimer: I just post to build my typing speed.