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Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 3:36 pm
by tommy
Electrical question before I go getting an electrician
We don’t have a pantry, so we are installing a sort of cabinet/pantry/hutch type thing on one of our kitchen/dinning walls. That room has one set of outlets per wall. I believe they are all on the same 15A breaker. We are debating adding another outlet to that wall before this thing gets installed. Things that will be plugged in include: wine fridge, 1000-1200W microwave, nespresso, and maybe an open one for rando small things that need to be plugged in occasionally. Here’s my question. Do we need another outlet for that? I’m assuming a electrician would just tap the new one to the same group. Is that okay? Do we need to have another line run to the breaker to put one on a separate 15A breaker? Am I over thinking this?
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 7:52 pm
by twelvepoint
A wine fridge and 1200w microwave will draw close to 15a, and I think any rework would require dedicated circuits for each. Maybe even 20a wiring for the counter outlets, which likely should be GFCI. Would recommend getting the facts from an electrician, or at least checking your national and local codes on this.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:01 pm
by Owen
It rained almost 9" here in 12 hours and the house used to get big seepage whenever we got rain over 2-3" in a day, but with the biggest rain I've had we only had MINOR seepage. Lots of flooding and water damage in the neighborhood. Feel very good about all the water mitigation I have done the last couple years. Just wanted to pat myself on the back.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:39 pm
by jfv
Owen wrote: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:01 pm
It rained almost 9" here in 12 hours and the house used to get big seepage whenever we got rain over 2-3" in a day, but with the biggest rain I've had we only had MINOR seepage. Lots of flooding and water damage in the neighborhood. Feel very good about all the water mitigation I have done the last couple years. Just wanted to pat myself on the back.
We “only” got 3 inches of rain in the NW burbs.
As someone who has owned an older home in an older neighborhood closer to the city center… yeah, you absolutely did something positive to reduce seepage. Agree with the pat on the back, wholeheartedly.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:46 pm
by biscuitdough
tommy wrote: Mon Jul 03, 2023 3:36 pm
Electrical question before I go getting an electrician
We don’t have a pantry, so we are installing a sort of cabinet/pantry/hutch type thing on one of our kitchen/dinning walls. That room has one set of outlets per wall. I believe they are all on the same 15A breaker. We are debating adding another outlet to that wall before this thing gets installed. Things that will be plugged in include: wine fridge, 1000-1200W microwave, nespresso, and maybe an open one for rando small things that need to be plugged in occasionally. Here’s my question. Do we need another outlet for that? I’m assuming a electrician would just tap the new one to the same group. Is that okay? Do we need to have another line run to the breaker to put one on a separate 15A breaker? Am I over thinking this?
You can tell if they're on the same breaker by plugging in lamps, turning those on and switching breakers off at the box one at a time. Probably worth doing and making note of.
You have 1800 watts on a 15A breaker with 120v service. I doubt the 600 left over from the microwave is going to cover any but the smallest model Nespresso, let alone the wine fridge.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 10:13 am
by tommy
biscuitdough wrote: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:46 pm
tommy wrote: Mon Jul 03, 2023 3:36 pm
Electrical question before I go getting an electrician
We don’t have a pantry, so we are installing a sort of cabinet/pantry/hutch type thing on one of our kitchen/dinning walls. That room has one set of outlets per wall. I believe they are all on the same 15A breaker. We are debating adding another outlet to that wall before this thing gets installed. Things that will be plugged in include: wine fridge, 1000-1200W microwave, nespresso, and maybe an open one for rando small things that need to be plugged in occasionally. Here’s my question. Do we need another outlet for that? I’m assuming a electrician would just tap the new one to the same group. Is that okay? Do we need to have another line run to the breaker to put one on a separate 15A breaker? Am I over thinking this?
You can tell if they're on the same breaker by plugging in lamps, turning those on and switching breakers off at the box one at a time. Probably worth doing and making note of.
You have 1800 watts on a 15A breaker with 120v service. I doubt the 600 left over from the microwave is going to cover any but the smallest model Nespresso, let alone the wine fridge.
I double checked the breaker and I was wrong. The entire dining room is on a single 20A breaker. We don’t use any of the other outlets in this room. So… is a single 20A enough for a wine fridge, a microwave, and LED cabinet lighting to be running simultaneously without issue. Anything else we might have going on this wall (Nespresso, can opener, wine opener, etc) likely would not be used while the microwave is going. Just trying to decide if we need to have an additional outlet and/or breaker installed.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 10:23 am
by penningtron
Can you tell if that circuit is 12 gauge wiring? If it's a true 20A run then yeah all that stuff on it is probably ok as long as you don't add a Vitamix or something.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 10:30 am
by Nate Dort
You'll be fine with a 20 A (2400 W) breaker. Wine fridge is probably 400 W max, and that's only during startup. LED lighting is easily less than 100 W, probably closer to 20 W.
I regularly run an air fryer and 1500 W microwave on the same breaker without issue. You have to remember that even if you pull 20 A, the breaker won't tri immediately. There's a current vs. time curve, depending on which type of breaker is installed.
https://www.electricaltechnology.org/20 ... eaker.html
In summary, you're overthinking it.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2023 7:28 pm
by TylerDeadPine
Nate Dort wrote: Thu Jul 06, 2023 10:30 am
You'll be fine with a 20 A (2400 W) breaker. Wine fridge is probably 400 W max, and that's only during startup. LED lighting is easily less than 100 W, probably closer to 20 W.
I regularly run an air fryer and 1500 W microwave on the same breaker without issue. You have to remember that even if you pull 20 A, the breaker won't tri immediately. There's a current vs. time curve, depending on which type of breaker is installed.
https://www.electricaltechnology.org/20 ... eaker.html
In summary, you're overthinking it.
^ This is one of the most overlooked things - great info to know. I've had vendors who build electrical machines not understand how breaker curves work.
Re: The Fearsome & Mammoth Homeownership Thread Part II: The Revenge
Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:37 pm
by thecr4ne
My wife and I have started the process of having our garage converted to an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) which we plan to rent at current outrageous rental prices long enough to cover the cost, then ideally either use as semi-passive income, or rent at affordable rate to someone who works locally and otherwise can't afford to live here.
I just signed off on a quote from a contractor, and it's gonna cost more than we owe on our house, and I'll probably still end up doing insulation, drywall, and most of the interior finish work myself to save on cost. Shit's insanely expensive right now. sigh.