Monty Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) I recently moved into an older house. My hobby room only has one electrical outlet, and it's in the lower middle part of the back wall. Pretty much what you'd expect to see: I currently have a multi-unit surge strip plugged into the lower socket. (The plug skews sideways, so it needs to be on the bottom.) The strip itself has my computer, monitor, speakers and a desk lamp plugged into it. I want to set up my hobby desk on the other side of the room, but to be able to use my hobby lamp, compressor, and occasional other electrical items, I'll have to use another multi-unit surge strip plugged into the top socket. Big Important Question: Is this too much "draw" for one outlet? If so, what would you recommend? Edited January 16, 2020 by Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 How many amps on the breaker that socket goes to? I'm not an electrician, but it sure sounds like overload to me. Best to add more lines right from the breaker box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waynerd Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 The compressor and occasional other electrical items could be problems, depending on what they are. The computer fans are ok but electric motors that run on 120V are gonna be iffy with all that other stuff you have plugged in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) It's pretty simple to figure this out, really. First, determine what breaker each receptacle is on by plugging in a lamp, and getting somebody to turn each breaker off in turn (and on again, of course) until the lamp goes out. Do this for all the receptacles in the room. I've encountered some bizarre logic-free wiring in a lot of houses, and just because one receptacle in one room is on a particular breaker, you have no guarantee they ALL are on the same one. Make a note of the amp ratings on the breakers for each circuit. This is the total load that will "trip" the breaker. Most breakers will only handle about 80% of this number. Look at the labels on the things you want to run off of one breaker and add them up. A lot of household circuits are only 15 or 20 amps. For reference, a hair dryer or small space heater rated at 1500 watts will draw about 13 amps. Some houses will have overhead lighting on the same circuit as receptacles too, so bear this in mind. You may need to do some math, because some appliances, power supplies, and tools show ratings in amps, and some are only marked in watts. You'll need to convert watt ratings to amps so you can add them all up to see if your breaker will handle the load. Bear in mind that the starting current of some things is higher than running current, too...so your compressor might pop a breaker when it starts, though it would theoretically run fine. Here's some help... https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/common/watts-amps.php https://www.homelectrical.com/understanding-capacity-your-circuit-breaker.6.html Edited January 16, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 First question. Fuses, or breakers? If you have breakers, it's likely that it will be a 15 amp breaker. If it is and you're worried about overloading the breaker, replace it with a 20 amp. You shouldn't have any issues with a 20 amp breaker. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 29 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said: First question. Fuses, or breakers? If you have breakers, it's likely that it will be a 15 amp breaker. If it is and you're worried about overloading the breaker, replace it with a 20 amp. You shouldn't have any issues with a 20 amp breaker. Steve Other than maybe burning your house down. Breakers are sized the way they are for a reason, and wires in a circuit designed for 15 amps can be too small to carry 20 amps. Yeah, the breaker might not trip, but the wires can overheat and start a fire. Sure as hell wouldn't be the first time that going to a heavier breaker without upgrading the rest of the circuit was the last thing somebody did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills72sj Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said: First question. Fuses, or breakers? If you have breakers, it's likely that it will be a 15 amp breaker. If it is and you're worried about overloading the breaker, replace it with a 20 amp. You shouldn't have any issues with a 20 amp breaker. Steve The breakers (or fuses) in your electrical panel are designed to protect the wiring IN THE WALLS. DO NOT upgrade the breaker to a 20 amp breaker unless you KNOW ALL the wiring it feeds is 12ga or heavier. 14ga wire is NOT rated for 20A especially if the run is long. Regarding your loads, items that transfer information or sound are basically insignificant. Lighting loads are based on lamp type. (LED = low draw, 150W incandescent = high draw). Any devices that purposely generate heat (heat guns and space heaters) will be the biggest issue. If these are not expected to be used then you should be just fine. Regarding your airbrush compressor. Look for the amp rating on the data plate. If it less than 10 amps again you should be fine. I would not be uncomfortable with two power strips in the same outlet as long as your loads are light. If you are powering the other side of the room and require an extension cord, go for just enough length and at least 14ga wire. DO NOT run a wimpy 50ft 16ga extension cord. Avoid wimpy, foreign two-wire extension cord especially under rugs. BTW the outlet in your picture is spec'd at 15 amps. 20 amp rated outlets look like this. Edited January 17, 2020 by Bills72sj added photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelbuilder Mark Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Honestly, if I were you, before I moved in my model stuff and the room was empty(if not too late), I would just bite the bullet and have an electrician come in and run some new/addtional juice to the room. I am in a new house (less than 2 years old), and my area has one outlet on each of three walls, and I wish I dad more. At my bench, I have at least 5 items LED Ceiling shop light/Loop LED magnifier light/Laptop/Tablet/Dremel On my outside wall, I have 5 items, Compressor/Spraybooth/LED spotlight/non LED spotlight/dehydrator (When I paint, all of these items are typically on at the same time) Third wall, occasionally used for photo-booth lights and occasional vacuum, but really a bit too far to plug much into for the hobby, but I understand it is on the same circuit as the other two, so not much point in running an extension cord from there to the other part of the room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Okay guys. Might be wrong on this one. Pretty certain that I've seen electricians do this over my 30 years in the construction business. Anyway, I doubt very much that the OP is going to have issues anyway. If you trip a breaker when you crank up the compressor, turn off something else. You're not going to have issues with tripping a 15 amp breaker running a computer, a couple of lamps and a Dremel tool. And, as I said, if you do, turn something off. As we speak I have 5 plugs in a surge protector behind my television and at least a half a dozen other items plugged into outlets throughout my family room, including my desktop computer and all of it's associated equipment, all running on one 15 amp breaker. Never once tripped it. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) How old is the house? I ask because in my time around old houses here is this. 1 plug in a room is old wires that are on the same breaker as other rooms in the house. Do the other rooms have at least 1 plug per wall? I think you need to check and see how many plugs are on the same breaker also. Edited January 17, 2020 by 1930fordpickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 The hobby area in my shop is 10' x 20'. Each wall has at least 3 outlets (20amp) and each wall is on a seperate circuit. The lights are on another seperate 20 amp circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool4x4 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) Monty, you can sit there an listen to all these opinions, or you can do it right, CALL a pro in to help. If you ever have to go thru even a small house fire, well you know. Edited January 17, 2020 by Oldschool4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 It just occurred to me that there might be a very simple solution to this problem: When I'm doing hobby stuff, I can just unplug the surge strip with the computer stuff on it. There's no need for them to be on simultaneously anyway, and I wouldn't be preoccupied with fire and safety issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waynerd Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 13 minutes ago, Monty said: I can just unplug the surge strip with the computer stuff on it. Or you can try running everything and see if it will take it without tripping the breaker/fuse. Remember the days when people put pennies behind a blown fuse? Genius, i'll tell ya' ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Waynerd said: Or you can try running everything and see if it will take it without tripping the breaker/fuse. Remember the days when people put pennies behind a blown fuse? Genius, i'll tell ya' ! that was my thought. just take all of you prospective items down to the room, plug it all in, and see if the breaker holds. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 I'd echo the thoughts of the others, calculate the amp draw of everything that will be running on that particular circuit simultaneously, and see if the breaker is rated for that amp draw. I'm in the process of running two dedicated 20amp circuits in the basement here right now for my calculated power needs (12ga), and since I know there's almost zero chance that all items will be on simultaneously, I'm well under the rated 20amps for each circuit, based upon my own calculations. To get amp draw, simply divide the watts by the volts for each item. 100 watts divided by 110 volts is .90 amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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