Impressive Wire For 15 Amp Breaker

For 12 gauge wire 20 amps can safely be handled.

Wire for 15 amp breaker. 80 of breaker max single phase breaker size wire size based on copper thhn wire increase one size when using aluminum conductors at 115 volts at 230 volts 15 amp 14 1 380 2 760 20 amp 12 1 840 3 680 30 amp 10 seldom used on 115 voltage 5 520 40 amp 8 seldom used on 115 voltage 7 360 50 amp 6 seldom used on 115 voltage 9 200 60. Circuit breakers protect the wires from overheating by limiting the amount of current allowed to pass through them. Otherwise you may need fewer appliances using the circuit or you may have a worn out breaker that needs to be replaced with a breaker of the same size.

A 15 amp circuit could have a maximum of 180 va at 120 volts 180 120 1 1 2 amps. This doesn t figure a long continued load that would be 80 of a15 amp circuit 15 x 0 8 12 amps 12 1 1 2 8 outlets if these are receptacles and don t have a specific load lcl doesn t apply. A 20 amp circuit breaker must be wired with 12 gauge wire or larger.

A 20 amp breaker is never allowed to run any circuit whose wires anywhere on the circuit are 14 gauge. Should the circuit breaker fail to operate correctly that heater will draw more current than the wires can safely handle and could heat the wires to the point of melting the insulation around the wires and igniting surrounding materials. Yes even larger wires than these are possible.

If the circuit can perform adequately using 14 gauge wire then you spend money you did not need to but there are some situation where 12 wire is required. It is rated as able to carry up to 15 amps of current. The minimum wire size for those 15 amp circuits is 14 gauge.

12 gauge wire is the next size larger and is allowed to carry up to 20 amps. So any size circuit breaker of 20 amps or less will be ok. There is the potential for danger anytime a device or appliance tries to draw more power on a circuit than the wire gauge is rated for.

If the length of the wire run is long then the voltage drop at the outlets may be excessive with heavy loads. As a result the amp rating of a circuit breaker has the following relation to the wire size that has been chosen. Is 12 2 wire ok to use on a 15 amp circuit.