I'm in the planning phase of refinishing my basement. I've planed the locations of the outlets, following all codes on spacing and location. I'm looking at about 12-15 outlets for the total space. My question is, can all these be on the same circut? or should I sub-divide into smaller groups?

 

12-15 is a bit much, unless you went way overkill on spacing, like every 4'-5', and don't intend to use most of them.
I would definitely break them up to two circuits.

 

As Speedy suggests, this is _probably_ too many receptacles on a single circuit, but might be okay if you don't expect to be plugging too much in. The issue is not really the number of receptacles, but instead the total connected load; if you are plugging in a single 1500W heater than anything more than a _single_ receptacle is too many, whereas if you are plugging in a bunch of 20W night-lights, then you could reasonably have 50 receptacles

For residential applications, the number of receptacles on a circuit is a design issue rather than a code issue.

Why don't you give us a little more description, eg. what do you expect to be plugging in (lamps? television? vacuum cleaner? table saw? plasma cutter?), how the room is laid out, and where your panel is. Figuring out the expected loads, and leaving room for future expansion is the key to a good circuit layout.

-Jon

 

Another question to answer is are you running a 15A or 20A supply feed to this room you are doing. In other words are you running 14 Guage or 12 guage wire around this room and to supply this room.

And as others have said....how far is this room from your panel...

 

I'm doing a simple basement refinishing, one large room. The pannel is located in the space, and we're only planing basic household items to be pluged in. TV (and accociated devices) lamps, radio, things like that. The computer will be on a seperate line with the orange outlet (don't remember the term). Oh, the room is about 20 x 30 with only one GFI outlet right under the pannel at the moment.

 

For a room this size, at a minimum, I would suggest at least 2 circuits at 20A each. Since the panel is located in the space, an easy way to do this is to run one circuit in each direction leading from the panel.

Putting the computer on a dedicated circuit is a good idea. Because you often have many items to plug in for a computer, I would suggest putting _several_ duplex receptacles together at the computer location.

The 'orange' receptacle is probably an isolated ground receptacle. These are of zero benefit in a residential application wired with non-metallic cable (Romex), and can in fact present a safety issue if you don't properly ground both the receptacle and the faceplate. By all means use higher grade receptacles than the minimum which you can buy, but don't bother with isolated ground receptacles.

-Jon

 

Thanks for the advice. This is helping me out a lot. I have two more related questions. Should the seperate computer circuit be 20A as well? and, Is there a code requirement for the location of the wires within the walls? Our area follows national standards.

 

It makes no sense to run a new circuit for receptacles and make it anything less than a 20 amp circuit. The difference in price for the wire is negligible and the wire is only a little more difficult to work with. Run a 20 amp circuit for your computer.

Based on the size of your room, I would have at least two general purpose circuits. I would alternate every other receptacle, so that I more or less had a choice which circuit to plug something into.

As for running the wires, since you are finishing this room, the wires must be attached to the studs. You are going to have a problem with having the studs flat against the walls. This allows very little space for the wires and makes them too close to the wall for comfort. You would have been much better off to place the studs against the wall in the normal manner.

 

I plan on using standard 2 x 4 stud wall construction. With about a 1" - 1 1/2" gap between the poured concrete wall and the new interior wall. Could I run the wire in this gap, attached to the studs, behind the insulation?

 

No, not really, or at least not easily. Place the studs the other way. You won't notice the lost space, and you will find it much easier to install the wiring, where you can use full size boxes and more easily fit 12 gage wire.

 

It is typical in a basement wall along the foundation to run the cable through every other stud and behind every other stud. This just saves boring half the holes. You can't run it behind all the studs because the cable must be supported no less often than every 4.5 feet. And attaching the cable to the back side of the studs would be a real pain to do. The studs you do bore, you can put the hole a little bit back of center. This will give you a bit more protection against nails.

Bob, I think you misread. dutchman did not say that he was putting the studs "the other way".