Tom Horne, Electrician wrote:
ZZ wrote:
If it is #14 wire you must have a 15a breaker and 15a outlets.
Are you sure it is #14? Kitchens have required #12 for a while now.

Yes, it is #14/2.

I do have a refrigerator that has a 20 amp receptacle in the kitchen
with 12 gauge wire, but that's it. In my house, all the 12 gauge wire
has a yellow sheath & all the 14 gauge has a bone white sheath.

This is a brand new house (5 months old).


The color coding of nonmetallic cable jackets is a relatively recent
development. The cable is labeled every two feet along it's entire
length to show it's gage and construction. Check the cable's labeling
to determine the actual gage of the conductors. If it really is size
fourteen American wire gage then you need to change the breaker to
fifteen amperes or run new cable. Since were talking about a kitchen
counter receptacle circuit it should be twelve gage wire.

The problem is that the cable is not generally
observable, just the wire at the box (maybe at the
panel). The simplest solution to wire size is to
get a piece of known 14 gage and a piece of known
12 gage and the difference in size will be readily
apparent even to a newbie.