I will throw in my $.02 worth here.

I currently have a "data center" in one of my bedrooms. In there I run a
number of machines, and all on a 15A circuit. I have had all the following
up and running at the same time:

1 dual processor Compaq server(8A) with 4 internal disk drives and two
attached storage arrays (6A each).
1 quad processor Compaq server(8A) with 4 internal disk drives and one
attached storage array(6A).
1 homebuilt computer system with two 800Mhz processors, three internal
disk drives, two external disk drives, and a 20" monitor. I'm not sure what
the power requirements are, but the monitor says 3A. Can probably figure 6A
for the whole thing.
1 HP Laserjet 4M+ printer (7.6A) with duplex attachement. That would
certainly be mostly for warm-up, but I would imagine it would still draw a
couple of amps while printing.
1 Epson Color dot matrix printer
1 fax machine.
Plus my DSL modem, router, network switch, and maybe a couple of lights.
(All Amp ratings are directly off of the labels on the back of the
equipment.)

This 15 amp circuit runs all of this just fine. It looks like the circuit
is way over subscribed, but the ampere ratings are maximums which will
**most likely** only come into play when the equipment is initially turned
on. I left all of this equipment up and running for a few days a while back
and there was no problem. No circuit breaker tripping, No smell of burning
plastic. :-) But this is just about the limit. I fired up another
computer which is pretty much a "normal" 2.4Ghz machine with a 21" monitor,
tape drive, and scanner, and the circuit breaker tripped after a couple of
hours.

I'm sure that if I came in and just threw a switch and had everything all
come on at the same time, the CB would just laugh at me and say "uh, NO!",
but everything gets paced. I have it set up so that when I turn on a
machine, the monitor comes on first, then the external storage array (if
there is one), then the computer. While the computers with attached storage
arrays are coming up, then the disk drives in the arrays will be spun up one
at a time. Once the computer is fully booted then I can go to the next
system.

The bottom line of all this is that if you just have one computer system,
even if it is on steroids, 15A will most likely be fine.



wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:15:58 -0500, "David DeBoer"
wrote:

Hello,

I would like to put my computer equipment on its own circuit. Would I
need
a 15 or 20 amp breaker to do this? Are there any restrictions as far as
how
many breakers can be in the box? I know there is room for more. What
gauge
wiring would this require?

Thanks for any thoughts...


It really depends on what you mean by "computer equipment".

BB