If I can ever afford to buy a house (I won't) - I'm going to put plugs everywhere

[episodic]

Just a generalized rant I'll never realize to fruition.

Nothing to see here.

Carry on.

 

[joesmoke]

everywhere just might be overdoing it.

 

[l0cke]

 

[episodic]

YES!!!!

 

[CallMeJoe]

I want to see the breaker box.

 

[xanis]

Yay code violations!

Sorry, had to rain on your parade a little bit.

 

[Leros]

My current place is basically one plug per wall. I remember my parents custom built house has outlets intelliently placed based upon where they planned to put stuff. For example, the logical place to put a TV in the living room had 5 sets of outlets.

 

[JEDI]

Just a generalized rant I'll never realize to fruition.

Nothing to see here.

Carry on.

you might need this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Non-Contact-Vol...&otn=4&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=5987300322758417945

non contact Voltage Detector $1

 

[ShawnD1]

Yay code violations!

Sorry, had to rain on your parade a little bit.

I think the max you're allowed is 12 per breaker.

Interestingly the electrical code doesn't seem to mention anything about octopus plugs or power bars. As far as the law cares, those things don't exist. You want 30 receptacles on a single breaker? Go nuts!


If your house doesn't look like this, you are doing it wrong

Also, there's a type of splitter that uses separate wires so those retarded ac-dc box things don't cover all of the slots. It sort of looks like this, but it's for 120V power rather than being a bunch of USB crap like this picture shows

 

[Skitzer]

Beware

 

[ShawnD1]

Beware

A huge majority of electrical fires are actually caused by wear and tear inside the wire, away from the wall. People do stupid things like put wires running between rooms then they try to close the door on the wire. Another common one is putting a dresser or a desk on top of wires. It weakens the conductor until there's barely a connection being made. That broken connection point being the highest impedance in the wire means that's where all of the heat is generated.

Because of the way people love to put dressers and chairs on top of wires, arc fault circuit interrupters are legally required in bedrooms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc-fault_circuit_interrupter#Electrical_code_requirements

If you're planning on running an extension cord in your living room where people can trip on it, roll chairs on it, or bite it, then you should consider using either an AFCI breaker or an AFCI receptacle for that circuit. It might prevent your house from burning down.

 

[BigJ]

I think the max you're allowed is 12 per breaker.

As of the 2008 NEC, there is no explicit restriction on the number of receptacles an ordinary 15A/20A circuit may have in a residential environment. Commercial is a completely different animal (based on a VA calculation).

 

[bruceb]

Max is 600 sq ft of area served by the branch circuit. Max load should be calculated at 80% of circuit capacity.

 

[Exterous]

As of the 2008 NEC, there is no explicit restriction on the number of receptacles an ordinary 15A/20A circuit may have in a residential environment. Commercial is a completely different animal (based on a VA calculation).

Which I have always thought is odd. IMO this leads to way too many outlets/lights on the same breaker as cost cutting contractors stuff as much as possible on the same breaker (with the obvious exceptions). Yay for the lights dimming when you turn on the hair dryer/vacuum/printer...

 

[Exterous]

Max is 600 sq ft of area served by the branch circuit. Max load should be calculated at 80% of circuit capacity.

IIRC - this is 600sq of 'liveable' space so you can have your entire basement's lighting added to your 600sq ft of area (unless your basement meets the 'liveable' definition)

 

[BigJ]

Max is 600 sq ft of area served by the branch circuit. Max load should be calculated at 80% of circuit capacity.

Yet this doesn't restrict how many receptacles can be installed in that 600sq ft area. This is also only for a 15A circuit. A 20A circuit would be 20A * 120V = 2400VA / 3VA = 800 sq ft. And one more thing, this is only for load calculations on a service.

Max load of what exactly?

Max load of a single receptacle (whether this is half of a duplex or on its own is irrelevant) is 80% of the receptacle rating when there is more than one receptacle on the circuit. A circuit serving a single receptacle is allowed to have a load equal to that of the rating of the receptacle (which in turn should have a rating equal to that of the OCPD).

If we're talking about general loads, it is 1.0 x Non-Continuous Load(s) + 1.25 x Continuous Load(s).

 

[keird]

OP should run CAT-6 cable, or at least raceways if he's doing new construction. It can yield something like this.

 

[bruceb]

This tells a bit about it. Basically it is no more than 12 (receptacles or light fixtures) per 15AMP branch circuit. If I was doing it myself, it would be one circuit per room for plugs and one circuit per 2 rooms for general lighting, unless the lighting load was large, then it would be one circuit per room. I know that is overkill, but better safe than sorry later.

http://www.electrical-online.com/planning-a-circuit/

 

[Rubycon]

I want to see the breaker box.

Service entrance is fine just don't go outside!

 

[notposting]

This tells a bit about it. Basically it is no more than 12 (receptacles or light fixtures) per 15AMP branch circuit. If I was doing it myself, it would be one circuit per room for plugs and one circuit per 2 rooms for general lighting, unless the lighting load was large, then it would be one circuit per room. I know that is overkill, but better safe than sorry later.

http://www.electrical-online.com/planning-a-circuit/

Yeah, if building from scratch something like (separated circuits) that would be the way to go. Along with nice amounts of low voltage pathways for future upgrades (when those fiber runs are just too slow for the 3d-holo-pron).

 

[ProfJohn]

I agree with the OP 100%

Just built a house and spent a lot time making sure I got outlets and switches everywhere I wanted them (almost)

People across the street didn't even pay attention to this and are stuck with crazy stuff like 7 switches in the kitchen/breakfast area. And worst part is the 3-way switch they have within a couple feet of each other. One from either way you would enter the room, but crazy to have them that close. The whole thing is just a mess.

 

[xanis]

I agree with the OP 100%

Just built a house and spent a lot time making sure I got outlets and switches everywhere I wanted them (almost)

People across the street didn't even pay attention to this and are stuck with crazy stuff like 7 switches in the kitchen/breakfast area. And worst part is the 3-way switch they have within a couple feet of each other. One from either way you would enter the room, but crazy to have them that close. The whole thing is just a mess.

Having multiple switches for single things makes Baby Jesus cry.

 

[Saint Nick]

Wow, cool thread.

 

[BigJ]

This tells a bit about it. Basically it is no more than 12 (receptacles or light fixtures) per 15AMP branch circuit. If I was doing it myself, it would be one circuit per room for plugs and one circuit per 2 rooms for general lighting, unless the lighting load was large, then it would be one circuit per room. I know that is overkill, but better safe than sorry later.

http://www.electrical-online.com/planning-a-circuit/

For a residential circuit and according to the NEC, that is 100% wrong.

http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarc...-Answers-Based-on-the-2005-NEC-I~20050223.php

Q2 What is the maximum number of 15 or 20A, 125V receptacle and lighting outlets permitted on a 15A, 120V general-purpose branch circuit in a dwelling unit?

A2 The NEC doesn't limit the number of receptacle and lighting outlets on a general-purpose branch circuit in a dwelling unit. See the NFPA's NEC Handbook for more information.

Although there's no limit on the number of lighting and/or receptacle outlets on dwelling general-purpose branch circuits, the NEC does require a minimum number of circuits to be installed for general-purpose receptacles and lighting outlets [210.11(A)]. In addition, the receptacle and lighting loads must be evenly distributed among the required circuits [210.11(B)].

Caution: Not likely, but there might be a local electrical requirement that limits the number of receptacles and lighting outlets on a general-purpose branch circuit.

That's from Mike Holt. If you're in the Electrical Industry, you might recognize his name as one of the guys that helps write the NEC.

With the 2008 Revisions to AFCIs, you're now talking about adding on an extra $40 in material per circuit, likely resulting in an extra $100 passed on to the customer.

I'm not saying what you're suggesting is bad practice (quite the contrary), but ever since the 2008 code was rolled out, things got a hell of a lot more expensive.

 

[spidey07]

Two outlets per wall, mandatory IMHO.