In article , "I-zheet M'drurz" wrote:
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)

You forget that, for continuous loads, the circuit is limited to 80% of its
rated capacity. This is the calculation you should have used:

15A @ 120V x 80% = 1440 watts.

He's still within the limit, of course, but the limit isn't as high as you
claim.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)