The hop distance strategy in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has a major impact on energy consumption of each sensor mote. Long-hop routing minimizes reception cost. However, a substantial power demand is incurred for long distance transmission. Since the transceiver is the major source of power consumption in the node, optimizing the routing for hop length can extend significantly the lifetime of the network. This paper explores when multi-hop routing is more energy efficient than direct transmission to the sink and the conditions for which the two-hop strategy is optimal. Experimental evidence is provided in to support of these conclusions. The tests showed that the superiority of the multi-hop scheme depends on the source-sink distance and reception cost. They also demonstrated that the two- hop strategy is most energy efficient when the relay is at the midpoint of the total transmission radius. Our results may be used in existing routing protocols to select optimal relays or to determine whether it is better to send packets directly to the base station or through intermediate nodes.