garage outlets

We are finishing our basement, starting with the kitchen and bathroom. The main breaker panel at the other end of the basement (about 60 feet away) has plenty of openings, but it would be cheaper to sub out a 60A panel than run approx 10 runs of #14 or #12 plus 2 of #10 copper NM-B 2w/g. I can get aluminum XHHW for about $0.20/foot. This is far cheaper than multi-wire cable and the ampacitiy is slightly better with individual wires. 1) Can the 4 wire runs for the 60A drop be #4 for lines, #6 for neutral and #8 for ground? 2) Do the neutral and ground need to be specific colors or marked in a specific way? 3) Main panel has room for the 60A breaker - can a 100A panel be used for the sub (60A panels are non-existent)? 4) Verify, these have to be in conduit? 5) Can the conduit be flexible non-metallic? 6) The 4 runs give a fill of about 50% in 1" conduit, even all 4 were #4, is this sufficient? Are there any concerns or possible issues? Thanks in advance! djr

I can't decide which option to choose. I am not as familiar with the flexibility of 12V Class 2 wiring methods, but I am quite experienced with the much stricter 120V wiring. I have 8 upper glass display cabinets where I want to put 20W lights in each, and some 60W 12V Class 2 transformers to hide somewhere. 1. I can put a metal box with the transformers in the cabinet above the oven. The plus is that it would be readily accessible if a transformer burns out. But all the wire runs would be cumbersome in this configuration, because of the placement of some of the display cabinets on the opposite wall. With the longer wire runs on the secondary there would be more voltage drop unless I use pretty thick wire even for the low voltage wire. 2. I can slip the transformers inside the cabinet ceiling hole used to recess mount the puck lights. There is a 2 inch cavity between the room ceiling and the upper display cabinet ceilings. If the transformers live inside this cavity they would be accessible when the lights are removed, the secondary wire runs would be very short. However the challenge would be that the 120V connection needs a junction box, and there is no room inside this 2 inch cavity for a junction box unless I get creative somehow with a ceiling lamp box (how could I slide it in this gap and get it to fit, without cutting a giant hole in the cabinet ceiling). 3. I can put the transformers inside junction boxes in the attic. There is some design flexibility here, as to how long the secondary wires should be, depending if I group the transformers together or put them in separate boxes. But it gets really hot in the attic and the transformers would be a little harder to access. A bigger concern of mine is that I think the low voltage wires cannot penetrate the ceiling without being inside a conduit (is that correct?).