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What I have laughed about for years is the 12/2; 14/2 debate for wiring in a home.
What I have seen over and over is that people who like to "overkill" everything and don't work with Electricity everyday tend to go 12/2 for everything. Sometimes even 10/2 for all outlets and 12/2 for all lighting. Those who work with it day after day and know what REALLY goes on in home wiring have a majority 14/2 for outlets and 14/2 for all lighting; with 12/2 reserved for where code requires it.
I've pulled wire in everything from major powerplants to backyard sheds. Huge office complexes to an extra outlet by a desk in a home office. 14/2 for all lighting, and most receptacle circuits in my own home, 12/2 where required... just like SouthGeorgia it sounds like. Just like every other Electrician I know who has wired their own home. There are things I do in every home I wire that is above and well beyond the NEC requirements (which are the minimum remember), one of which is a separate circuit for each bedroom (14/2 always). I have NEVER been called back for a problem with that arraignment in the 28 years I have been doing this trade. (Other than nuisance trips from touchy Arc Fault breakers... I hate those things.)
how many outlets on a 14/2 was the original question I believe. I always do general purpose 14/2 circuits with 8-10 outlets tops; no more than 6 or 7 in a bedroom.
On the corollary, folks have more things that require plugging in too, so while individually the power consumption has dropped, the total might not.
Add to the fact that power sells ... more wattage in your home theater, more wattage in your blender, more wattage in your vacuum cleaner ... those are still good reasons to go "overkill" with 12/2.
no. i'm telling you from vast experience, residential loads on general purpose circuits are not nearly what you think.
again, get an ammeter and take some readings. I do this on a weekly basis on service calls.
The largest receptacle load in my house is about 7A; and that's in the living room where I have an LCD tv, home theater PC, a/v surround receiver, etc. .
with no appliances or hvac running, under normal conditions, the current load on my service is about 15 symmetrical amps. that's lights, tv's, lamps, clocks, etc . .
i've read services w/ the heat running that max out around 50 symmetrical amps.
why do you think the poco's use #1 aluminum, which has an NEC listed ampacity of 100A, on 200A residential services? sometimes they use 1/0, but the majority are #1.
its all personal preference i guess, but 12/2 everywhere is a complete waste of money.
also, how many people do you know that sit in their home theater running a blender while vacuuming? just because you have all these things doesn't mean they'll be used simultaneously.
I notice you 14-gauge wire fans are in the East, where power is more expensive - out here in the PNW electric resistance heaters are still a practical heating device, the 1850W they consume seems to be pretty much constant. I like to be able to put a true 20-A type recepticle where I know heaters will be used and still be within code. Probably there are some 15-A recepticles - maybe "hospital grade" ones - that grip the plug as tightly as a 20-A - but I like how the 20-A recepticle holds good and tight to the heater plug, how the heater plug stays cool regardless of how long I use the heater.
My bottom line is I'll use 12-gauge, certainly in my garage where I'm using power-hungry tools, and have a lot of motors that can be sensitive to voltage drop. I pay for it once, I exert a little more effort to route it and install recepticles, but it's good for 20 A (as I say "for practical purposes" - Southgeorgia posted up the details which I am certain are correct, but for practical purposes I'm putting a 15 A breaker on 14 and a 20 on 12...) If I were wiring an apartment building, I might be interested in the labor and material cost savings of using 14 - my objection to it for my own use is I just want the overkill and am willing to pay what for a single job is "chump change" to get it.
At the same time I guess Bydand's idea of running multiple 14-gauge runs of wire works too. I'm not certain it's less labor and materials than 12 though.
Question for the group. I recently purchased a home that is wired with 14/2 on 15A breakers, there are some 20A breakers for single items. Washer, Dishwasher, Refrige.
My question is this. I have a room that I would like to convert to an office. I will be running a laptop, a monitor or two, printer, shredder and possibly a second laptop. I was hoping to add 2 receptacles to this area.
While mapping out the breakers in this home I found that the most logical (easy) jump would be from a receptacle in the family room; however, I found that the following is on this one 15A breaker.
Hall Light
Bathroom Light & Fan
Secondary Bathroom Light over the mirror
Bar Light Strip (There are 2 strips of 6 bulbs)
Family room ceiling fan
receptacle in bar for mini fridge
5 receptacles in family room
single light in office area
Now I planned to change the bulb light in the office to an LED strip light and put a second in there so 2 strips of LED and 2 additional outlets.
My concern is the family room will most likely have an electric fireplace in it, tv, dvd player & bose surround system Let's say all of these are on at the same time watching a movie. Will this over load the circuits?
It seems to me that there is an awful lot of items on one breaker. The home was built in 1990 in Pennsylvania and I do not want to add to the mix. I can say that I suspect all the wiring is 14/2 as I have confirmed on the wires that I can see but not all that are in the walls and ceilings. I would find it hard to believe that they switched wires on the same breaker.
I recently purchased a home that is wired with 14/2 on 15A breakers...
(and) there are some 20A breakers for single items. Washer, Dishwasher, Refrige.
I have a room that I would like to convert to an office.
I was hoping to add 2 receptacles to this area.
While mapping out the breakers in this home I found (a LOT of stuff already on it)
It seems to me that there is an awful lot of items on one breaker.
What should I do?
When you KNOW you have a specific need for power you provide for that specifically.
Add a new 15A circuit to that room being converted to an office...
and provide the (2) outlets you'll need for that equipment.
Rule of thumb is in large part up to you and depends on your likely use of the outlets. THings like radios, tvs clocks draw very little power. A computer may draw more. Blenders, mixers and especially anything that gets hot or cold draw a lot of power. So you need to think where will you plug in a window ac unuit, a fan hair dryer, toaster, etc. So I guess the rule of thumb is to think about it.
Wiring our house, I used only 12 ga wire for outlets, except one that has only one outlet on it. I always tried to put each room on two separate circuits so you would only lose half a room if a circuit went down. Also that leaves room for future expansion. The number of outlets on a circuit varied from four, in a location where I thought the outlets woudl be used for heavy draw, to a lot (maybe 15) for the circuit that included a bank of outlets I included along the wall where I display my collection of Kit Kat clocks.
Lights were all 14 ga, and I put several rooms on a circuit, but I tried to wire every other room on a different circuit so if a break tripped, we did not end up with the entire floor dark.
Bathrooms go on individual circuits (usually with a GFI breaker so we did not have to install GFI outlets). Kitchen got about six circuits (dedicated for the fridges, grinder and dishwasher, microwave was dedicated but I added two more outlets to the island on that circuit. Then by expected loads like toasters, waffle iron, blender mixer and other things that have a big draw.
WE had one house the entire downstairs except the kitchen was one circuit. Eight light fixtures and probably about 15 outlets. The upstairs except one bathroom was a second circuit. Then there were a few added on circuits that had an outlets here and there at random on any given floor.
I am not aware of any specified number, maybe there is one, but is really depends on how many outlets and lights will be used at a time and for what purpose.
Ampacity of #14 is 25A (except for TW, UF, XHHW and similar insulations it is 20A), although cb terminal ratings will drop it to 20A; code requires it to be fused @ 15A in a dwelling.
#12 is 30A, with similar restrictions dropping it to 25A, and OCP @ 20A in a dwelling.
of course derating factors are still applicable.
and for those stuck on #12 in residential, break out your ammeter and take measurements around your house. I have #14 throughout my home, except where #12 is required, and have yet to face an overload scenario. i've had a couple of AFCI trips and that's it.
with modern efficiency standards, loads are getting lighter and lighter.
All of that said, the code says that #14 is for 15 amps max, and #12 is for 20 amps max, and #10 is for 30 amps max. That is assuming this is copper wire.
What the wire will take is quite different than what the code says you can use.
To the OP. I suggest you call the local electrical inspector and ask them how may outlets they will allow on a 15amp circuit. They have the final say. Makes no difference what people say on the internet - they enforce the rules.
How about clarifying what exactly you're trying to do.
Are you adding a circuit and wanting to use awg14? (as O.R. said, I wouldn't)
Or is it an existing circuit that you want to add a recepticle too?
Determining load on a circuit depends on many things. And NEC is not the easiest thing to understand or comprehend.
Because the NEC is not a book for DIYers.
As far as the OP question there is no residential limit of how many receptacles on a circuit by the NEC. Doesn't matter as long as the circuit has the right size breaker the circuit is protected so you can put a 100 outlets if you want.
No limit. But 14 ga is not adequate for receptacle wiring.
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