How many outlets can be on a 15 amp circuit?

+1 vote
asked Aug 27, 2018 in Do it yourself by ishaqxlotapo (230 points)
How many outlets can be on a 15 amp circuit?

How many electrical outlets can you have on one 15 amp electrical circuit?

1 Answer

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answered Aug 27, 2018 by ronalhart (240 points)
The National Electrical code doesn't limit the amount of outlets on any given circuit so you could if you wanted to place as many electrical circuits on the 15 amp circuit that you want too.

However that's not a good idea since the more electrical outlets you have on one circuit the greater risk you have of tripping the circuit breaker.

I personally would put each bedroom on it's own circuit for the electrical outlet's in each bedroom.

Then put two bedroom lights on one circuit each.

A refrigerator should be on it's own circuit and a microwave should have it's own circuit as well.

Also if you're using a window air conditioner you really should have it on it's own circuit as well since window air conditioners draw a lot of electricity especially at startup.

Not sure exactly what you're trying to do but I would not put more than 5 or 6 outlets on one circuit especially 15 amps.

In fact if you're rewiring part of your house or all of your house or installing new wire in a garage or shed etc.

Then I would up the size of the circuit to 20 AMP breaker instead of 15 AMP and go with 12 AWG wire since it can handle more amperage without tripping the breaker.

My house was wired with 14 gauge wire and 15 amp circuits and I kept overloading the circuits and tripping breakers since today's homes require more power so I changed out the breakers to 20 amp and upgraded the wiring inside the walls to 12 gauge wire so I could use more amps.

15 amps is good for lighting circuits but not so good for electrical outlets anymore.

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