On 3 Oct 2006 05:08:25 -0700, "
wrote:

20 amp on light ONLY circuits are probably a bad idea.

most light fixtures have very small wires, 14 or even 16 gauge.

lets say a partial short occurs.........

a 15 amp breaker will likely trip a 20 amp will continue to happily
supply the short

I had a overhead light above my bed do this one time in middle of
night, walking out of bedroom for bathroom i turned on light and heard
arcing saw sparks reflected off wall......

i had lost pillow and need light to find it.........

turned off switch fast and didnt get back to sleep. talk about instant
wake up

arc fault breakers didnt exist at the time about 10 years ago. i
replaced every fixture in the house...

pure lighting circuits have no need for 20 amps!!!

volts times amps is roughly watts. on what home application would you
need over 6120 watts of lighting on a single circuit?


You'd need 306V to get 6120W on a 20A circuit (that's 382.5V if you
limit current to 80%).

306x20=6120
382.5x16=6120
120x20=2400
120x16=1920

no 20 amp light only circuits I am not lighting a ballfield......
--
83 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent
force for atheism ever conceived." -- Isaac Asimov