Electrical Question - Too much on 1 outlet??

[ezbake]

hey all,

Living in a old house. I think its a 15 amp one or w/e
Dont know much about electrical,
but anyways, I have 1 heater, 1 100-watt light, and 1 fan on the same outlet on a power strip

the heater has options for 600 watts, 900, and 1500. whenever i increase the power on the heater, i notice my fan slows down and my light dims slightly. on the 1500 watts for the heater i notice it a lot.

i am wondering why it does this? is it the outlet or the power strip?

how can i prevent it?

does it effect the wattage of my light or the lumen output?

edit: also, could this be something added on by the land lord to prevent high power usage? it's a rental

thank you

 

[Nape]

hey all,

Hey all back.

Post too soon maybe

 

[ezbake]

Hey all back.

Post too soon maybe

LOL, no the damn thing submitted when i typed enter... lol, I edited

 

[Nape]

hey all,

Living in a old house. I think its a 15 amp one or w/e
Dont know much about electrical,
but anyways, I have 1 heater, 1 100-watt light, and 1 fan on the same outlet on a power strip

the heater has options for 600 watts, 900, and 1500. whenever i increase the power on the heater, i notice my fan slows down and my light dims slightly. on the 1500 watts for the heater i notice it a lot.

i am wondering why it does this? is it the outlet or the power strip?

how can i prevent it?

does it effect the wattage of my light or the lumen output?

thank you

Hey EZB

The heater is a big issue. At 1500 watts your pulling approx 12.5 amps. This is absolute max for this outlet. You never want to exceed 80% max rating.

Older wiring can't even get to 80% safely. When lights get dim and fan slow down, you are loosing voltage with the line loss. This will create heat and can be a FIRE HAZARD.

Careful

 

[SomeGuy]

Hi EZ

With the heater on high its pulling around 12.5 amps from your 15 amp circuit. The 100 w light is pulling around 0.8 and the fan is unknown.
You are pretty much using up the available amps and the breaker should pop rather than the fan slowing down.
See how many watts the fan is and divide by 120 to get the amps.

Some say you shouldnt go over 13 amps on a 15 amp circuit. I don't think its a landlord thing but check to see if the breaker is getting hot.

 

[ezbake]

I see, well that sucks. I figured thats what it was.

I turned it down from 900 to 600, The fan still slows down a bit going from Off to 600 Watts on the heater.

So I basically need to wire the heater to run on a different outlet? Or a completely different 'zone' on the breaker box?
edit: I mean, is the maximum amp per outlet, or does it go by the zone on the breaker box? By zone I mean each little switch on the breaker box. Sorry i dont know much.

edit: I think it isn't popping because the power strip is for 12 or 13 amp and the breaker is 15 so the power strip maxes before it can pop

 

[Guest]

So I basically need to wire the heater to run on a different outlet? Or a completely different 'zone' on the breaker box?
edit: I mean, is the maximum amp per outlet, or does it go by the zone on the breaker box? By zone I mean each little switch on the breaker box. Sorry i dont know much.

ez, ya gotta get your heater on a different circuit. by tht i mean a different breaker circuit from the panel. when ya find another one, check that circuit to see if there is any other "big users" on that one as well. try to find a receptacle that has very few other items plugged into it. stay safe.

 

[ezbake]

ez, ya gotta get your heater on a different circuit. by tht i mean a different breaker circuit from the panel. when ya find another one, check that circuit to see if there is any other "big users" on that one as well. try to find a receptacle that has very few other items plugged into it. stay safe.

hey a circuit is each of those switches on the breaker box right? like 1 circuit might have 3 outlets, then another circruit another 3 outlets, etc?

 

[Guest]

yes. a circuit breaker is at the panel and when you turn it off it will kill power to a number of locations. test them to find out which will be the best one to use.

 

[SomeGuy]

Ezbake.

I'd suggest doing an electrical map. Shut off a breaker and then check the outlets and lights to see whats connected to it. Do each breaker, one at a time and be thorough, older homes have stuff added in like outside lights and such.

Look at the appliances you have connected and write down what the wattages are and use the formula

"WATTS divided by VOLTS (120) = AMPS"
Example 400 Watt Light divided by 120 = 3.3 AMPS. Add another amp for the ballast.

Then you can add up the total amps for each circuit and you know exactly how much you are pulling and not overload the circuit. A good rule of thumb is not to exceed 3/4 of the rated load. IE 12-13 amps on a 15 amp circuit.

Be careful trying to run an extension cord with space heaters as the resitance in a too small cord could cause overheating. If you have to do it, get a short, heavy duty type. I would let the heater have the local circuit and maybe run the light on an extension if I had to.

Be Safe!