Advice needed on electrical circuit(s)

[dgbehrends]

Hello and thanks for reading,
I have an unfinished basement that has lighting wired all on one 15amp breaker. I had some HVAC equipment installed, one of the items was a powerful air exchanger. I also had a sump pump and an extra gfci outlet added so I could run some computer equipment in in an unfinished room. Unfortunately they wired all this on the same breaker. I plugged in a 1500watt heater to warm my computer area during the cold winter and as soon as the air exchanger turned on pop, out went the breaker. I'm going to be adding a new circuit for a TrueSteam humidifier and would like to reconfigure the air exchanger and sump pump to maybe another breaker. What would be a good setup? Keep the true steam on its own 15 amp breaker or go to a higher breaker and add the sump and or air exchanger? Other options? The HVAC upgrades were inspected but the electrical wasn't. If I add a new circuit for the Truesteam and possibly add another circuit for the air exchanger and sump would that require an inspection?

True Steam is 12amps

Here is what is on the basement circuit right now.
Electric space heater 12.5 amps
Air Exchanger 5.4 amps
Sump Pump ~4 amps
Water Heater ~4.1A It says less than 12 amps. Its a 48gallon Bradford White with a powered vent
Computer Equipment ~1A
Fish Tank Equipment ~1A
Water Softener .5A
Lighting < 1A

[gilmorrie]

There are many possible alternatives. But, here is what I would do:

Put the humidifier, water heater, and space heater on three new 20-A ckts, one for each. Requires #12 wire.

Everything else could be left on one ckt, but I would upgrade that to 20A as well.

How do you know the water heater draws only 4.1A? Is it 120- or 240-V?
Doug

[Gunguy45]

The WH must be gas, since it has a power vent...it's the powered vent that is pulling current.

[gilmorrie]

The WH must be gas, since it has a power vent...it's the powered vent that is pulling current.

OK, I missed that point. That changes things.

The water heater could share a 20-A ckt with the lights, sump pump, fish tank, etc.
Doug

[ray2047]

I'd put the computer on a separate circuit too. When you start factoring in not just the computer but peripherals you might have several amps just from that.

Of course we really don't know how many spaces are available in the main panel. Given cost of running individual cables and number needed a subpanel might be the best solution.

Whether this requires inspection depends on locale rule but the answer is almost certainly yes. Inspection is a good thing anyway. It makes it less likely for mistakes to go uncorrected,

[dgbehrends]

Thanks for the input guys.
I have 5 slots left for breakers. For the future when I finish the basement I think I will need this
1 for a bathroom.
1 for downstairs living room and bedroom.
1 for the computer room.
1 for TrueSteam
1 for Utility Room.

The TrueSteam I think should be on its own 15amp.
I was thinking of putting the rest of the utility room equipment (water heater, air exchanger, sump pump, and water softener on a 20amp. This leaves a little room for some workshop tools later on.

Is there any drawback to switching out 15 amp breakers for 20amp? I think my garage is only 15 amp right now. Would the wiring need to change between 15 and 20amp?

In my old house an Electrician put in a breaker that fit into one slot but had two switches on it, essentially two breakers in one slot.

D in MN

[thinman]

More than likely the 15 amp circuit breaker protects 14 gauge wire. Which means you can't use a 20 amp circuit breaker.

[dgbehrends]

I was doing some reading on combination AFCI circuit breakers and it looks like they are going to be code for all new construction areas of a home except for kitchens. I took this free online course.
The Schneider Electric Learning Center

I'm going to return my standard breakers and buy some the combination arc faults. Does anyone here have any opinions on the combination arc fault breakers?

[dgbehrends]

Thanks to everyone for their input.
Here is the circuit diagram that I submitted for inspection.

I wired everything up including the 3 combination AFCI circuit breakers and passed my inspection. MN code follows NEC 2008 code exactly so I needed to spend the extra money and get the combo circuit breakers.

[ibpooks]

Thanks for posting back with an update. It's good to know that the project came out well.