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15A receptacles, 20A circuit

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12-07-02, 11:47 AM

bmears

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15A receptacles, 20A circuit

I notice that the standard, cheapie receptacles at Home Depot & Lowes are rated 15A. My bathroom is a 20A circuit. Do I need to buy 20A receptacles? They have them there, but they're included in the "commercial" section rather than "residental," and they're considerably more expensive. Maybe I'm just missing something? Also, does the same hold true for switches?

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12-07-02, 12:37 PM

John Nelson

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I'll bet this question has been asked a hundred times here in the last few years. Bottom line: you may use 15-amp receptacles and switches on 20-amp circuits. Search the forum if you want the all the gory details.

Here are a few links to get you started. There are many more.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?threadid=98939
http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?threadid=91789
http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?threadid=77646
http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?threadid=75774

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