Best price on 6/3 romex?

I need to run new 6/3 line from the utility room on one end my new house to the garage on the other end, all inside so no outside worries.

i've got about 50-60 feet of distance between the sub panel and the garage so I 'm going to get butchered on price I know, but can someone point me toward cheaper than $2/ft romex?

or is there an alternative? i've read about some kind of aluminum core wiring but don't know enough about it.

Call your local electrical supply and ask them for a quote on #4 ser aluminum. You could possibly get away with #6 ser al, but that all depends on your local code / ambient attic temps in the summer. here in Florida we would use a #4. if you do use al wire make sure to use terminals rated to accept al wire along with a anti oxidation compound.

the utility room and garage are on the same level so most of the wire will be between 60 and 75 degrees all year round, the garage doesn't get below freezing in the winter and not above about 85 in the summer.

what's the difference between the aluminum and the regular copper?

You have to run a little bit larger wire if using al vs copper. copper is a better conductor, al is much less expensive it is not really an issue using it in place of copper. *as long as it terminated properly.

okay, not at all familiar with procedures with aluminum wire. a quick google turned up a requirement of a AFCI breaker - so I would need to replace the GFCI breaker in my spa panel and put one of these in the sub panel? the 50 amp afci I found was in the 100 dollar range - not cheap for two.

I don't know what you're referencing for a afci breaker being required. That requirment is for lights and receptacles is living areas of a dwelling unit (house). your garage is not a living area, appliances are also exempt from that requirement regardless. (your electric brewery is in essence an appliance) check your panel box its very likely that the wires to your electric range, heat & a/c and the main wires coming into your panel are aluminum.

hooray! so all i need to do is put the wire into the breaker in the sub panel and then run it to the spa panel in the garage, with the proper anti-oxidation stuff?

you got it

Capital tristate in Chambersburg PA has it for 1.04 per foot - a pretty big difference between that and 2 per foot for romex. now I just have to clean out the garage so I can start thinking about brewing again.

Update:

Just finished running 50 feet of 4 ser aluminum wire from my sub panel to the garage. I connected my spa panel and gave it a try - works great! tomorrow I will go back and retighten all the connections as per instructions.

that stuff is a pain to bend around the inside of the panels through.

the wire cost me 1.02 plus tax per foot at tri state electric in hagerstown, md.