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jimbob jimbob is offline
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Default Wiring overkill?


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?

no 20 amp light only circuits I am not lighting a ballfield......


Well the 12/2 wiring is already in and would be a PITA to remove.
Nothing wrong with a 15 amp circuit with 12/2 wiring for
lights....right? Also, I could easily extend the circuit to additional
outlets.

The 20 amp circuit in the dining room stays. We run an air
conditioning unit in there. The lights used to dim when we turned it
on. Not any more.