On 26 Oct 2003, JosephM wrote:

Hello,
I'm adding some recessed lighting in my basement. The wiring that is
there consists of some 14/2 wire and 12/2 wire for the existing
recessed lights. There are 4 of them right now. I was wanting to add 6
more on one 15 amp circuit. The bulb themselves would be 65 watt
spots. Will one 15 amp circuit handle 6 lights? Can I get away with
using 14/2 NM wire or should I use the heavier 12/2 on the new
circuit? When all is done I would have 2 -15 amp circuits that have 6
recessed lights each. Is this safe?

Absolutely.

15A @ 120V = 1800 watts, so if the fixtures themselves were
rated as such (they usually aren't) you could run 6 * 250
watt bulbs without going over 15A (6*250=1500W=12.5A)

That's -exactly- the type of circuit that 14 guage wire is
made for. Actually, you could put all 12 fixtures on one
circuit (and break them up into as many switched branches as
you want to.) If you would use a 100W bulb in each, you're
still only be talking about 1200W = 10A @ 120V. There's
really no need to tie up a 2nd breaker for two circuits.

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