a little background....

just bought the house. when i was about to wire for a new dryer we noticed a rat chewed a bunch of wires in the attic. doesn't appear to have anything exposed, but a lot of insulation had been chewed. considering the wires probably haven't been updated in the 50 years since construction.... i figured i'd go ahead and rewire all the 110 lines.

i am converting a breakfast area into a utiliy room. so i decided to put the new breaker box in there. this box is fed from an exterior box that contains all the 220 wiring which has been updated and looks to be in much better shape than the interior 110 lines.

okay. so where i am looking for help is in the circiuts. i am curious of the best way to organize my circuits. (i.e. by room, etc.). it is normal to have the light fixtures and outlets on the same circuit? i have already put the fridge and washer each on their own circuit. i even ran a separate circuit to the attic to feed the light and outlet i put up there. i will also, put the microwave and disposal on their own circuits. is there anything else that should be by itslef? i have some experience wiring, but i have never planned out an entire job. any help will be appreciated.

 

Before proceeding, do some reading. I recommend Wiring Simplified, plus read at least two other books, and I do mean read them.

Kitchens, bathrooms, dining rooms and bathrooms have very specific requirements. (Was that washer circuit a 20 amp circuit?) You must follow the current code in all that you do.

Since your panel in the utility room is a sub panel, it also has very specific requirements. You need to completely understand these to have a safe installation.

As for the other areas of the house, you don't want to overload any circuits. Consider dedicated circuits for home entertainment centers and computers. Consider separate circuits for lights and receptacles, and consider at least two circuits for each room so that a tripped circuit won't totally eliminate power to a room.

 

thanks. i actually had an electrician/friend wire the sub panel for me. so i am confident in it. he is also helping me with the re-wiring when he has time. since he has been pretty busy lately, i would like to move ahead without him if possible.

and yes the washer is on a 20 amp circuit. in fact i only purchased 20 amp breakers. i will get the book you are talking about and check it out.

 

It is both 'normal', acceptable to the NEC, yet often 'bad design' to put light fixtures and receptacles on the same circuit.

Whenever a circuit is supplying a load, there is normally a bit of voltage drop. When you run a heavy load (for example a vacuum cleaner), this voltage drop will cause lights on the same circuit to dim or flicker.

In a lightly used area, (say your attic), it is fine to share the circuit. But for a heavily used area, I would suggest putting the lights from several rooms on one circuit, but the receptacles from each room on their own circuit.

Note again: this is a 'design' or 'esthetic' issue, not a code issue.

Another design suggestion: if you are wiring in smoke detectors, put them on a lightly but _commonly_ used circuit, for example put them on a circuit with the hall lights, but with no receptacles. In this way it is very unlikely that you will trip the circuit breaker on your smoke detectors, but if the circuit does trip you will notice very quickly that something is wrong.

-Jon

 

Winnie,
thanks for the help. i will likely go that route