Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What are you going to plug in to that receptacle? Anything that heats, cools pumps or spins - probably not. Just a lamp or a computer? You are probably fine.
If you overload the circuit you will trip the breaker. that tells you not to plug in whatever it was that tripped the breaker. Of course the breaker tripping may also tell you you wired the outlet incorrectly, but you have to be pretty dumb to do that.
Meh. While you can use 14ga but most use 12 because you can put a higher amp rated breaker on that circuit. It’s far easier to run 12 ga with a 20 amp breaker than the run 14 with a 15 amp then find out your popping the breaker or worse yet melting wires because you’re drawing too much and heating the jacket potentially causing a fire. It’s not. not worth the time to run 14 ga
The reason 14 isn’t used as receptacle wiring today is liability. Nobody wants to be dragged in court. You can always go bigger n wiring. Never smaller
The reason 14 isn’t used as receptacle wiring today is liability.
Really!? As an "electrician", you should know how absurd that statement is- as long as the branch circuit is protected by nothing higher than a 15amp breaker there's no problem.
If you're quoting a job and the specification from the builder is "minimum standard/code", are you going to change his mind and run 12awg? Are you going to run 12awg anyway and charge for only 14awg?
As an "electrician" you should certainly know how to "protect yourself" by running wire in such a way that it restricts the amount of load put on it(?) Besides, most people are ignorant when it comes to electricity- they'll overload a circuit in a heartbeat. But that's not your fault, now is it?
Most of the newer houses I looked at we wired with all 14ga except the circuits for the fridge, furnace, sump pump, and dishwasher. That was a while ago though. Maybe they changed.
When I wired my house I used only 12 ga on all outlet circuits and the builder doing an addition to our house told me I was wasting money and he would never do it that way. i stuck with all 12 and insisted he do so too and I am glad I did. I had to pay him about $60 extra to use 12 ga instead of 14 for the kitchen outlets. We put a lot of load on a given outlet circuit at times.
When I wired my house I used only 12 ga on all outlet circuits ...
Overkill.
When I re-wired my house... I used ONE 14ga 15A for the GP recep's (LR & BR's)...
but added ONE 12ga 20A GP recep circuit split between those same rooms.
Quote:
I had to pay him about $60 extra to use 12 ga instead of 14 for the kitchen outlets.
Then you REALLY got burned.
20Amps in the Kitchen (&DR) has been code since Edison was still breathing.
I learned the hard way that 14ga is not approved for anything in Yuma, AZ...(yet it is readily available for sale at the local Home Depot and Lowes) local regulations always supersede the NEC. Their position is that with the extreme outside temps into the 120 degree range, and the possibility of wires run in attic space where temps could reach 180+ degrees, resistance is too great for 14ga to be considered safe. Even my hard wired smoke detecters had to be 12ga. The original cost differential is minimal....after the fact, not so minimal. Better to be safe than sorry.
W
Then you REALLY got burned.
20Amps in the Kitchen (&DR) has been code since Edison was still breathing.
Maybe, not sure. Although $60 I would not describe as "REALLY" (with the caps lock key stuck) burned in any event. The kitchen addition included a kitchen, scullery, pantry, sun-room, mudroom and small bathroom. I do not remember whether they charged us to switch out all the wiring or just the non kitchen rooms. I was very glad to have 20 amp in the sunroom because I ended up later tying in to some of the outlet circuits to install electric baseboard heaters out there.
It is overkill if you will never change anything and you know exactly what you will put on any given outlet for the rest of your life. However saving $60 could be a really bad bargain if you later have to run new circuits because you need 20 amp in there, or because you blow breakers regularly.
What was really overkill and a complete waste of money was wiring the whole house with every room having CAT V, Telephone, and Cable TV wiring. While we used the cable wiring for a while, Now we do not use any of them and never used the CAT V or phone wiring. Wireless improved so much so quickly, we had no use for any of those except in one location. In fact after someone hit and severed the phone line for the fourth time, we no longer even have phone service to our house.
Now we do not use any of them and never used the CAT V or phone wiring. Wireless improved so much so quickly, we had no use for any of those except in one location.
I always laugh when people (techies) recommend pulling multiple Cat5/6 or conduit with Cat6 in it to almost every room. Many devices now don't even have a ethernet port, and people generally don't want laptops to be tethered with multiple cords anyway.
A better strategy is to run to a small ceiling box in a central location on the first and second floors for the install of a POE-capable access point. Maybe a run to a room designated as an office, if you mostly work stationary there.
20Amps in the Kitchen (&DR) has been code since Edison was still breathing.
My Dad is still in his house that was built in 1956 with a 60-amp fuse panel. I don't think there is a 20-amp fuse in any location. Tesla did far more for the electrical grid than Edison did.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
