Is it ok to wire into a ceiling light fixture (regular old bulb screw-in
fixture) a circuit of outlets?

It's on a 20A circuit and using all 12ga wire.

Visually..
breaker box -- light switch -- bulb socket -- outlets (to plug in shop
lights).

So when I flip the switch, I can turn on/off the outlets.

On Dec 10, 11:00*am, "Kevin" wrote:
Is it ok to wire into a ceiling light fixture (regular old bulb screw-in
fixture) a circuit of outlets?

It's on a 20A circuit and using all 12ga wire.

Visually..
breaker box -- light switch -- bulb socket -- outlets (to plug in shop
lights).

So when I flip the switch, I can turn on/off the outlets.

Use a 20 A rated switch and avoid possible current surge problems,
Just good practice to keep everything on the run matching.

Joe

Ah.. 20A switch.. good point..

The breaker is 20A, the wire is all 12ga, the outlets are your standard
household 15A circuits.

The switch leg was wired off the shop outlet circuits - 20A, but I pulled
the power off the switch and wired in a dedicated 20A circuit from a new 20A
breaker. The only reason for 20A is just to keep it consistent. I suppose
I could drop in a 15A breaker instead. I also thought it might be handy to
have some overhead outlets to plug in a drill, circular saw, etc. Now I
realize that would be on my lighting circuit, but it would be low load
devices and infrequently used. The shop 110 outlets are now all on their
own circuit, and I have a dedicated 220 for the dust collector and 220 for
tablesaw, jointer, and whatever else comes along.

"Joe" wrote in message
...
On Dec 10, 11:00 am, "Kevin" wrote:
Is it ok to wire into a ceiling light fixture (regular old bulb screw-in
fixture) a circuit of outlets?

It's on a 20A circuit and using all 12ga wire.

Visually..
breaker box -- light switch -- bulb socket -- outlets (to plug in shop
lights).

So when I flip the switch, I can turn on/off the outlets.

Use a 20 A rated switch and avoid possible current surge problems,
Just good practice to keep everything on the run matching.

Joe

On Dec 10, 2:04*pm, Joe wrote:
On Dec 10, 11:00*am, "Kevin" wrote:

Is it ok to wire into a ceiling light fixture (regular old bulb screw-in
fixture) a circuit of outlets?

It's on a 20A circuit and using all 12ga wire.

Visually..
breaker box -- light switch -- bulb socket -- outlets (to plug in shop
lights).

So when I flip the switch, I can turn on/off the outlets.

Use a 20 A rated switch and avoid possible current surge problems,
Just good practice to keep everything on the run matching.

Joe

Not likely he would have 20 amps flowing when turning off the lights,
presumably to leave the room. But excellent point and thanks for the
reminder Joe.
I have double pole 230/115 (30 amp) switch with fuses above the work
bench that turns off 'everything' in the workshop, outlets, lights
above bench, even the 230 bench saw if it is plugged in, etc. Except
for a conventional light switch for some ceiling lights, on another
circuit, by the door.

wrote:
On Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:47:08 -0600, "Kevin"
wrote:

Ah.. 20A switch.. good point..

The breaker is 20A, the wire is all 12ga, the outlets are your standard
household 15A circuits.

The switch leg was wired off the shop outlet circuits - 20A, but I pulled
the power off the switch and wired in a dedicated 20A circuit from a new 20A
breaker. The only reason for 20A is just to keep it consistent. I suppose
I could drop in a 15A breaker instead. I also thought it might be handy to
have some overhead outlets to plug in a drill, circular saw, etc. Now I
realize that would be on my lighting circuit, but it would be low load
devices and infrequently used. The shop 110 outlets are now all on their
own circuit, and I have a dedicated 220 for the dust collector and 220 for
tablesaw, jointer, and whatever else comes along.


If all the wire is 12ga you can stay with the 20a breaker. It is less
likely to trip when your tools start..
15a receptacles are fine but you might find the "quality" can be an
issue. If they are the 50 cent bargain barrel specials you might want
to swap them out with "spec grade" units. They will last a lot longer,
less heating, better plug retention etc ... but that is good advice
for all receptacles.


You don't need spec grade, they are great, but very expensive. You can
get an intermediate grade, there are several names for it, but I've been
using the Leviton pro grade receptacles, they're pretty well made. Code
allows 15A receptacles on a 20A circuit so long as there is more than
one of them on the circuit. If it is a single receptacle on a 20A
dedicated circuit, it has to be a 20A receptacle.

Last time around I used 20A receptacles, but this time I figured I'll go
with the box of 10 for $15 and see how it goes.

Here's my diagram.. any thoughts?


2gang 2gang
| |
| |
light socket ----- light socket ----
| | |
| | |
2 gang 2gang |
|
switch
|
20A breaker


I'll plug in shop lights to 2 or 3 of the outlets in the 2gang (4
receptable) boxes.

I"m just using the light sockets because they are already wired in. All I
have to do is retro in the 2 gang boxes, and wire them to the sockets. I
did pull in a new 20A circuit from the breaker to the switch.

related question..

Is it ok to leave "dead" wires in the box?

The old power leg from the 2 gang receptable box to the switch box is now
dead. In the outlet box I unhooked the white/black and wire nutted them
together. In the switch box I cut back the bare ends and folded them to the
back of the box.

Kevin wrote:
related question..

Is it ok to leave "dead" wires in the box?

The old power leg from the 2 gang receptable box to the switch box is now
dead. In the outlet box I unhooked the white/black and wire nutted them
together. In the switch box I cut back the bare ends and folded them to the
back of the box.




I would wire nut them off and fold them up into the back, tagging them
wouldn't be a bad idea either. You never know when they might be needed
for something.

Do watch out for fill violations, there is a limit to the number and
size of wires you can have in a given size box, not to say that these
are never violated, even by professional electricians.

Technically, you're not supposed to have lighting on the same circuit
as outlets. It's a safety issue. The theory is if you pop the breaker,
you'll also be in the dark.

On the dead wires, code says you're supposed to remove abandoned
wires. But I also think there's a caveat that says "where practical."
If you wire nut them, tape and tag them, you should be ok.

Yeah, in the shop that's why I have pulled in a seperate lighting circuit.

But I installed a pair of duplex receptables in the ceiling to plug in shop
lights. They might occassionally double as a place to plug in a drill, etc.
But I have wall outlets as well on a seperate circuit.

"Rick-Meister" wrote in message
...
Technically, you're not supposed to have lighting on the same circuit
as outlets. It's a safety issue. The theory is if you pop the breaker,
you'll also be in the dark.

On the dead wires, code says you're supposed to remove abandoned
wires. But I also think there's a caveat that says "where practical."
If you wire nut them, tape and tag them, you should be ok.

On Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:00:23 -0600, "Kevin"
wrote:

Is it ok to wire into a ceiling light fixture (regular old bulb screw-in
fixture) a circuit of outlets?

It's on a 20A circuit and using all 12ga wire.

Visually..
breaker box -- light switch -- bulb socket -- outlets (to plug in shop
lights).

So when I flip the switch, I can turn on/off the outlets.



You can use just about any electrically-approved box to make your
connections. But, there is a limit and there are various size boxes.
Lighting typically uses 14 g wire, but 12 g is fine to use also. The
cirsuit should always be off when any electrical box is exposed (cover
removed).

On Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:35:43 -0600, Rick-Meister
wrote:

Technically, you're not supposed to have lighting on the same circuit
as outlets. It's a safety issue. The theory is if you pop the breaker,
you'll also be in the dark.

On the dead wires, code says you're supposed to remove abandoned
wires. But I also think there's a caveat that says "where practical."
If you wire nut them, tape and tag them, you should be ok.


Tell THAT to any electrician in North America and he'll have a good
laugh!!!!!

Rick-Meister wrote:
Technically, you're not supposed to have lighting on the same circuit
as outlets. It's a safety issue. The theory is if you pop the breaker,
you'll also be in the dark.

You can't put lights on kitchen appliance or laundry circuits. Otherwise
it is rather common.


On the dead wires, code says you're supposed to remove abandoned
wires. But I also think there's a caveat that says "where practical."
If you wire nut them, tape and tag them, you should be ok.

As others have said, there is no requirement for power wires.

--
bud--

On Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:51:10 -0600, "Kevin"
wrote:

related question..

Is it ok to leave "dead" wires in the box?

The old power leg from the 2 gang receptable box to the switch box is now
dead. In the outlet box I unhooked the white/black and wire nutted them
together. In the switch box I cut back the bare ends and folded them to the
back of the box.


Best to put a wire nut on each dead wire.