how many watts per amp?
- Thread starter iceburger
- Start date
slothy
Active Member
Electricity is measured in terms of amperage, voltage, and wattage. Amperage (amps for short) is a measure of the AMOUNT of electricity used. Voltage (volts) measures the pressure, or FORCE, of electricity. The amps multiplied by the volts gives you the wattage (watts), a measure of the WORK that electricity does per second.
benj420
Member
Couple notes of caution.
A bulb's wattage rating is not a good measure of actual ballast draw. A ballast can draw a significant amount more than the total of the bulbs.
You should never run a circuit breaker at it's capacity. For example, if you have a 15 amp circuit, you should really not run more than 2/3 to 3/4 load on it. That means that you shouldn't run more than 10 or 12 amps (and 12 is pushing it).
If you decide that you do need more amps, you must switch the wire and the circuit breaker because in all probability, your house was wired with 15 amp circuits and 14 gauge wire. A 20 amp circuit requires 12 gauge wire (thicker).
I'm not trying to preach, but if you do either of these wrong, you could be homeless and tankless in a hurry.
A bulb's wattage rating is not a good measure of actual ballast draw. A ballast can draw a significant amount more than the total of the bulbs.
You should never run a circuit breaker at it's capacity. For example, if you have a 15 amp circuit, you should really not run more than 2/3 to 3/4 load on it. That means that you shouldn't run more than 10 or 12 amps (and 12 is pushing it).
If you decide that you do need more amps, you must switch the wire and the circuit breaker because in all probability, your house was wired with 15 amp circuits and 14 gauge wire. A 20 amp circuit requires 12 gauge wire (thicker).
I'm not trying to preach, but if you do either of these wrong, you could be homeless and tankless in a hurry.
benj420
Member
Originally posted by Azonic
what do you mean on one circuit...im electrically imparied...sorry if thats a dumb question...by circuit do you mean wall outlet? If so I've got close to 1600 watts on two powerbars, connected to one outlet.
No, one circuit in most homes runs many outlets (or lights, or other electrical devices). My house, for instance, has five "outlet circuits" that run the whole house. Both of the bedrooms run on one circuit, therefore everything in both of these room count againts the total power on the circuit. Your outlet is almost certainly not the only one in the circuit, so you are probably running even more than 1600 watts (which is way too much). Another outlet in the same room will probably not help because it is likely on the same circuit. You might want to go to your circuit panel and see if you can figure out which one runs that outlet. See what the number is on the switch. If it's a 15, you are overloaded, if it's a 20 and that is the only outlet in use on the circuit, you are at maximum. I only had one 15 covering my tank room, so I ran a second 15 amp circuit and some more outlets so that I can spread out the load.
Another problem with loading a circuit like this is that some well intentioned person comes along a plugs a vacuum into the wrong outlet, turns it on, and out goes the lights, and everything else.
