On Tue, 28 May 2019 04:33:35 GMT, lid (RMD) wrote:

On Mon, 27 May 2019 14:14:04 -0700 (PDT), Molly Brown
wrote:

How is it that an 18 AWG conductor is allowed to power 10 120 volt light bulbs?
Am I missing something or is this just crazy?

Here in Australia you are allowed to put up to (I think) 10
electrical outlets rated at 10A on a 20A rated cable. The Standard
just assumes most of these outlets won't be in use at the full 10A
current at any one time, so there is zero chance that 200A will go
down the 20A cable. In any case the 20A cable is protected by a 20A
circuit breaker.

I should imagine the 18AWG lighting circuit conductor is protected by
a correctly sized fuse or circuit breaker, and in any case probably
most of the lights won't be on together anyway.

Ross
Not so. The circuit in North America will be protected by either a 15
or 20 amp breaker. The 18 guage wire will be a roughly six foot cord
on a lamp.Noth american cords are not fused like many euro and
Australian plugs. The lamp will have numerous bulbs in it - often it
will be a chandelier with candellebra bulbs of 40 to 60 watts. Very
uncommon for any other situation to have 10 bulbs other than
decorative string lighting which are also generally 40-60 watt bulbs.
In all these cases all bulbs would most likely be lit together.

If someone is worried the cord may be overloaded it is a simple matter
to replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs at about 1/10th the power
consumption for the same light output.

In North America "premise wiring" - wiring permanently installed in a
structure, for lighting circuits operation on 120 volts are MINIMUM
14AWG. There is no other (lighter) cabling certified for premise
wiring installation in Canad or the USA and circuits are protected by
a minimum 15 amp fuse or breaker, There are no breakers or fuses rated
at less than 15 amps approved for residential wiring installations.
Devices MAY have internal fuse or breaker protection - usually
appliances - most commonly electronic devices. Motorized devices and
heating devices often have thermal protection - but VERY FEW lighting
devices have any protection built in at all.