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House circut help

robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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I need some help with understanding something about Circuts?

A House every room is Wired in a Paralle Curcut so if you ever have to many things that are pulling more then 15 Amps the Circut with trip.

So in a House Kitchen say you have a Toaster Oven pulling 12 Amps and you Coffee Maker is pulling 10 Amps you are going over the 15 Amp mark.

So the Circut sould trip but is does not why?

Or are Toaster Ovens and Coffee Makers not useing a lot of Amps??
 

davenn

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Sep 5, 2009
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have a look on those appliances it will tell you their ratings and then you can work it out :)
they are not likely to tell you the current they use but rather the wattage
now I dont know what country you are in so I dont know your mains voltage 120, 220, 240V etc ??

let us assume America with 110/120V say the toaster oven is 1200Watts

Watts = Volts x Amps therefore Amps = Watts / Volts 1200 / 110 = 10.9 A

The coffee maker is likely to be lower Wattage, lets say 500W 500 / 110 = 4.5 A

if you are in Europe, Australia, NZ and a few other countries then with a 220/240VAC supply the current is going to be much less eg....

1200W / 220V = 5.4A 500W / 220V = 2.3A

But as I said earlier, look on the appliances and check out their wattage rating and do the math :)

Dave

PS not every room in the house is on the same cct. The kitchen will often have its own cct, cuz of the number of hi current applinces in there. The range top/oven will have its own cct rated ~ 30Amps
all the bedrooms may be on the same cct not too much current drain ... bed lamps, maybe a TV and an electric blanket (in winter)
 
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robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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thanks but

OK so if my Coffee Maker pulls 6. Amps
and my Toaster Oven pulls 3. Amps

they are pulling 9. Amps they are both under the 15 Amp limit so this is why the Circut did not trip.

So am I right that in a Parrale Circut the Volts stay the same but the Amps ad up? This is why you sould not have to many things of havy Amps pluged into the same Circut or Room?
 

davenn

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yep thats correct :)

I'm suprised your coffee maker draws more current that the toster oven

what is the wattage on each appliance ? and what is the mains supply voltage where you are ?

Dave
 

Resqueline

Jul 31, 2009
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Remember time is a factor in tripping breakers. At double the rated current it'll last at least 20 seconds, if not a couple of minutes.
 

robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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thanks but

My Microwave oven is I think 900 Watt or 1,000 Watt

What is the math for finding out how many Amp a microwave Oven takes?
If you know it is a 900 Watt and it takes 120 Volts.
 

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
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Take it from my experience. You run your microwave, toaster oven and coffee maker at the same time on one circuit, you'll blow the 15A breaker.
Remember, it's possible you've got more than one circuit to your kitchen area also.
 

davenn

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My Microwave oven is I think 900 Watt or 1,000 Watt

What is the math for finding out how many Amp a microwave Oven takes?
If you know it is a 900 Watt and it takes 120 Volts.


read my post above I showed you examples :)

do the math

Dave
 

robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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thanks but

If everything in the Kitchen gets it's own circut like

The Oven
The Refreeg
The Dishwasher

They all get there own circut I thought just the Stove?
 

davenn

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If everything in the Kitchen gets it's own circut like

The Oven
The Refreeg
The Dishwasher

They all get there own circut I thought just the Stove?

It really depends on how it was wired according to local state/country electrical regulations

in this part of the world ... Australia and New Zealand (with ~ 230VAC mains) every appliance in the kitchen, that is pluggable, will go to wall sockets that are on the same cct. The rangetop/oven will have its own hi current fused cct, as probably a permanently wired dishwasher.

Sounds like its time for you to talk to a local electrician for your region/country. He would be able to tell you the regulations and conventions etc

Dave
 

janagyjr

Dec 17, 2010
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The oven runs off it's own 30A circuit, the fridge afaik is in with the regular kitchen circuit, not sure about dishwashers (fwiw, I'm still a student taking Industrial Electricity with electives in Electronics Technology and still learning).
 

robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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thanks but

Well I live in the USA and I looked on google.com and they say every counter top outlet has it's own circut.

So they don't meen that every counter top outlet is all togeather on one circut do they?

This makes sance every counter top outlet can't have it's own circut all counter top outlets have to be all on the same circut.

If not that meens all each one of my 3. counter top ioutlets have there own circuts.

That would be three circuts right there. They have to be togeather on one Circut or is this not what they do?
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Google is pretty good, but I'm pretty sure they aren't looking at your house wiring (yet).
 

janagyjr

Dec 17, 2010
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Well I live in the USA and I looked on google.com and they say every counter top outlet has it's own circut.

So they don't meen that every counter top outlet is all togeather on one circut do they?

This makes sance every counter top outlet can't have it's own circut all counter top outlets have to be all on the same circut.

If not that meens all each one of my 3. counter top ioutlets have there own circuts.

That would be three circuts right there. They have to be togeather on one Circut or is this not what they do?

I'm in the USA as well and I'm telling you, unless your local code is different then The Code, I'm fairly certain only the stove is on it's own circuit (the fridge might have it's own, too). Specifically I'd check out sections 110, 210, 220 and possibly 422 of the Code as they all seem germane to your question (I'm going by the RealRead copy provided by the NFPA and don't actually have a copy of the 2011 code in front of me right now).
 

robertbiferi

Jan 16, 2011
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thanks but

I just went to about.com

They say the things in a Kitchen that need it's own circuit are.

Any Kitchen Lights.
Refrigerator.
Range.
Dishwasher.
Food Disposer.
Microwave Oven.

Now I know you may see the Dishwaser and Food Disposer on the same circuit.

But in an everyday Kitchen in the USA all the Counter Top outlets that you plug your Coffee maker and Toaster and Blender and things like this are they all not on ONE circuit?

It is hard to find this out. I know everyone does it diferant but what sould they do for Counter Top outlets put them on the same Circuit?
 

davenn

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As I said in an earlier post.....

Sounds like its time for you to talk to a local electrician for your region. He would be able to tell you the regulations and conventions etc

Dave
 

janagyjr

Dec 17, 2010
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Completely agreed.

Might I ask, though, why do you need to know?
 

EvilBunny

Feb 1, 2011
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Well I live in the USA and I looked on google.com and they say every counter top outlet has it's own circut.

So they don't meen that every counter top outlet is all togeather on one circut do they?

This makes sance every counter top outlet can't have it's own circut all counter top outlets have to be all on the same circut.

If not that meens all each one of my 3. counter top ioutlets have there own circuts.

That would be three circuts right there. They have to be togeather on one Circut or is this not what they do?

The National Electric Code requires AT LEAST two seperate circuits for the kitchen countertops. The stove has it's own and most electricians will put things like garbage disposals, refrigerators, and dishwashers on their own dedicated circuit but they aren't required to.
 
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