15 Amp Receptacles on a 20A Breaker?
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- Can a 15A outlet be used on a 20A circuit breaker? Let's take a look at the code book and find out. I have been asked this question several times in the comment section of my videos and I thought it was time for a video dedicated to this subject.
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Thank you so much my friend. Comments like this keep me motivated to make more content.
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You're information is informative, easy to understand and to the point. EXCELLENT content my friend
I appreciate that! Comments like yours keep me motivated to make more content. 👍
What many folk might not realize, is that many good quality receptacles, and by that I'm referring to as the commercial or spec grade, not the cheap residential grade that tract home builders seem to fall in love with, second to diamonds/their spouse😂, the internal contacts are the double T shape for NEMA 5-15, 5-20, 6-15 and 6-20, the cover bonded to the receptacle determines the NEMA configuration and thus volt/current rating. Therefore a 15a receptacle should have no problem carrying a 20 amp load. 120 volt, 20A plugs on equipment are very rarely encountered in a dwelling unit, therefore it's a common practice to install 15A receptacles throughout the home regardless if it's a 15 or 20a circuit
It's also worth noting, that if you do encounter an appliance with a NEMA 5-20P, such as on a commercial grade toaster oven for example, because the appliance has the capability of drawing up to 20 amp on full power, the instruction manual will most likely say something like "FOR USE ON AN INDIVIDUAL 120VAC, 60Hz, 20 AMPERE BRANCH CIRCUIT ONLY " and per article 110.3 (B), Equipment that is listed, labeled, or both shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.
New subscriber from Livermore, Maine. Good information. One of your short videos caught my attention (stripper built into the switch) Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you! Welcome to the channel fellow Mainer. I'm down in Buxton.
Another great video!
Thank you Sue...
Well explained, thank you
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
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Thank you Jim.. Much appreciated.
Thanks again great stuff 👍
Glad you enjoyed it.. Thanks for watching!
Very informative 😊
Thank you..
Seems to be a common practice for many homes... 20A circuits that feed each bath and at least two to the kitchen counters (separately of course), but 15A receptacles are used on them, meeting NEC. I think it is actually a form of safety feature... the circuit can handle 20A, but the receptacle limits what can be plugged into it to 15A for any single device. Kitchens and baths probably have some of the most used receptacles in a home.
Finally someone who understands the reasoning behind the practice and understand that it is a safe installation. Thanks for your comment.
Yes, I thank you too. I thought I was going to have to go buy a bunch of plugs, hahaha.
I'd come across this issue before, and found the same answer.
That said, do you have a quick answer for higher amperage circuits?
I recently came across a 240v 30A breaker (with 10AWG wiring) feeding a single 15A hardwired air compressor.
I'm debating downgrading the breaker to 15 or 20A, but had also considered putting a duplex 240v 15A outlet in instead of the hardwired junction, and being able to connect a second 240v load.
Sometimes the inrush on a inductive load can overcome the breaker and cause it to trip on startup. This is why the code allows you to upsize the breaker in this application as long as the compressor has overload protection.
@@BackyardMaine
Thanks.
That does explain a bit about that connection.
I still need to rework that connection, as the liquid tight conduit was ripped in a way that keeps leaning up against the hot outlet pipe from the pump head to the receiver tank, but that's just replacing it with a longer one and adding a clamp.
I love your videos John. You are smart and explain things very well.
I have a question, I ran a 20 amp dedicated circuit to my shed. I have 3 20 amp receptacles going in the shed. I want to use 2 simple light fixtures in the shed. Can I tap 14-2 wire from the 20 amp receptacle and use the 14-2 for the light switch and and the two lights? Thank you sir!
Thank you my friend. You can add a switch and a few light fixtures to the circuit in the shed but you will need to run 12-2 rather than 14-2 since your on a 20A breaker. (14AWG needs a 15A overcurrent protection).
@@BackyardMaine THANK YOU SO MUCH
@@joegennaro972 My pleasure..
Hello i have a question. I recently had to replace my water heater and found out that my sub panel near the water heater is being feed from the main panel on a 30 AMP 2 pole breaker with 12/2 AWG. In the sub panel is another 30 AMP 2 pole breaker feeding the water heater with 10/2 AWG. Is this normal? For a water heater to be fed this way? I was thinking if it's normal, that I would replace the 12/2 AWG with 10/2 AWG from the main panel to the sub panel ( Btw the sub panel is a 4 circuit panel with only the 30 AMP 2 pole breaker in there now. There was a 20 AMP breaker wired to 2 receptacles that no longer works or aren't needed. I removed the wire to the 20 AMP breaker and the receptacles.
No this isn't a code compliant installation. The sub-panel fed from the 30A breaker should be fed with 10AWG copper wire. The 12AWG you have now is not being properly protected. Assuming the water heater needs to be supplied by a 30A circuit (most common) then the wire from the sub-panel to the water heater should also be 10AWG. I hope this helps.
I did because I wanted Decorator switches and didn’t need 20amp outlets or the extra cost. Plus most were TR
Yup almost every receptacle below 5'-6" needs to be TR now. It's been expanding with every code cycle.
That's crazy. What do you think the reason for the code against the single receptacle is?
Because each individual receptacle (single plug in) is only rated for 15A.
@@BackyardMaine why didnt you say that in the video????
@@Cara.314 Say what?
i was told by a electrician that you can under wire a pigtail on a 20 amp circuit. I mean 6" of # 14 has les resistance than 12" of # 12 wire . #14 wire is rated at 24 amps single core and i would think a pigtail would be a single core.
Pigtails or through wire are both code compliant for 15A or 20A circuits. Also #14AWG has to be protected by a 15A circuit and #12AWG by a 20A circuit.
I'm not sure that I understand where you are getting this 6" vs 12"?
I would not follow that electrician's advice.
If you put 15-amp receptacles on a 20-amp circuit, they had better be pig tailed! I had a job to fix the plugs in a garage where they were NOT. They were wired using both screws on the plug as a through connection where the current traveled through the plug separation tabs. The owner had his pickup truck block heater plugged into the receptacle at the end of the circuit and it pulled more than 15 amps though a whole night and slowly burned and melted the 4 receptacles at the break away tab in between the two connection screws. If those receptacles had not been in a gang boxes, like they are in many old pre-code constructions in old towns here in Colorado, his garage and home would be cinders right now.
John in other videos says that the pigtail “requirement” is a misnomer often seen in You Tube videos. But in this video he clearly states that 12 amps is the maximum allowed device load for anything connected to a 15-amp receptacle protected by a 20-amp breaker. So, the block heater pulling more than 15 amps was the offender right off the bat. He also is clear that the circuit needs to be wired with 12 gauge. Of course, the solution is super simple, hardly expensive and easy to do: get a 20-amp outlet in that box.
Thank you both for your comments. I had a professional electrician replace a dimmer switch (in a single pole, 3 gang box) that was overheating. Unfortunately, it still overheated after he replaced it and he did not know why. So I just quit using it for a while.
I recently decided to try to get it replaced with a 1000W dimmer, thinking perhaps that would help since it’s connected to a 12 bulb chandelier. As I was looking at the wires in the box and how he had wired everything, the first thing I noticed was that he had not grounded the dimmer switch. The green wire was not connected to anything and still had the insulation around the wire like it had never even been stripped. All of the grounds appeared to be twisted together in the box, without anything mechanical holding them together, but they were not connected to the other two switches either.
I checked the other two switches and they were 15 amp switches. They, as well as the dimmer, are connected to a 20 amp breaker.
The switches and the dimmer appear to be connected to each other in parallel, however, instead of using pigtails to each individual switch and dimmer, it looks like they are connected to the first switch, then a wire/pigtail(?) was connected from that switch to the middle switch, and then another wire/pig tail connected the middle switch to the dimmer. I hope that was done correctly.
The middle switch controls two porch lights. One of the load wires was connected to the screw on the right side, but the other load wire was back stabbed. So I went out and bought some Waga 221 connectors.
After reading y’all’s comments, I’m wondering if I need to go buy a couple of 20 amp switches, and check all of the other switches and plugs in the house to ensure they were correctly sized for the fuses.
One time I went to a job where a customer had multiple space heaters plugged in to a power bar with a 15A receptacle on a 20A breaker. The receptacle was completely melted and there was a big black mark going up the wall about 5 feet above the plug.
@@craigmantle5362You said "multiple space heaters". If he had say 3, set to 1500 w, that would be 4500 w. The maximum for a 20 amp circuit is 2400 w. I would suspect a circuit breaker malfunction.
@@surferdude642 yep, a breaker will trip at 80% (12A for 15A) but it can handle inrush currents that are higher for a short time. Most breakers now days trip easier when they start to wear out but if you see a panel that’s made by “Stab-Lok” it’s very important to not rely on their breakers…
Yes
I thought that the 80% limit applied only on continuous loads (3 hours or more). I could be wrong.
Not for cord and plug connected equipment. Remember we're talking about the receptacle load not the circuit load.
Well should you? Well that’s up to you!! #fairwarning
I have two, 15 amp double plug outlets on a 20 amp circuit in my kitchen. I want to replace them with GFCI’s. Should I use 20 amp outlets?
You can by code use 15A receptacles but I would use 20A especially in a kitchen. Kitchen and Bathroom receptacles generally see much higher use and more current than other household receptacles. I used all 20A commercial grade in the kitchen and bathroom and then 15 residential grade everywhere else unless they required 20A by code.