How many recessed lights on a circuit?


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Old 04-17-02, 10:28 AM
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How many recessed lights on a circuit?

Hopefully someone can give me some general help on this - I am remodeling my small kitchen, which has a single overhead light fixture. I want to remove it and install recessed lights. I would say probably 4 -6 would do it, all controlled by the one light switch. How can I find out if the circuit can accomodate the additional load? Do I need to hire an electrician to do a load analysis, or can I assume that adding a few lights won't draw enough power to cause problems? I don't know what else is on the circuit on this point, but I think it is just lights.

Thanks
 
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Old 04-17-02, 11:31 AM
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First, figure out for sure what's on this circuit. Shut off the breaker and test everything to see what doesn't work. Personally, I think it's a good idea to do your whole house at the same time -- it may take a few hours and works better with a helper. This is the best way to be sure, since you keep at it until you find a circuit for every light, every receptacle, every appliance (inside and out).

Now add up the wattage of everything that is normally connected to this circuit. If you have any receptacles that things are plugged into temporarily, you'll have to account for that by estimation (or use 180 watts per receptacle as a general rule of thumb).

Now go see what is the amperage of your circuit breaker on this circuit. 15-amp circuits have 1800 watts of capacity, and 20-amp circuits have 2400 watts of capacity.

Now make sure that this circuit isn't restricted as to what you can do with it. If the circuit contains any receptacles for the kitchen counter, any bathroom, dining room, or laundry room receptacles, then there are restrictions. There may also be restrictions if some big load is on this circuit. Post back for more information if you run into this.

Now you can compute how many extra watts are available. Divide this by the wattage of the fixtures you plan to install (probably 65 or 75), and you have the answer to your question.

When you get the answer, post back and we'll do a sanity check on your work.
 
 

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