combining two circuits

I am trying to free up one circuit on my panel for a bath exhaust fan.

Currently I see two circuits, 7 and 12, each circuit powers a single receptacle in the living room area, on opposite walls.

Seems pretty obvious I should put these two receptacles on the same circuit and free up one breaker for the bathe exhaust fan.

In order to put the two together, is it OK for me to do a splice inside the panel? So the hot and neutral for circuit 12 will be spliced/pigtailed into circuit 7 with wire nuts. Freeing up circuit 12.

Now if I did this, is this what is referred to as "double tapping"? and I seem to remember this is a bad thing, care to explain why?

 

No, it isn't double tapping. Double tapping is two wires under the same screw. What you want to do, pigtailing, is just fine.

Canadian Note: CEC has different rules.

 

Some circuit breakers are Listed for two conductors, generally of the same size, but most breakers only accept one conductor. The Square D QO and QOB breakers are Listed for two conductors. If you have breakers not Listed for two conductors, you must pigtail the circuits to one conductor.

 

Those are single conductor breakers. So its ok to pigtail them as the conductor comes off the breakers, and then split into two, and one goes up and one goes down...same with the neutral.

 

Neutral and ground can go separately to the bus bar. No need to pigtail them. Electrically it is the same.