210.21(B)(2)

J

jes25

Senior Member
Location
Midwest
Occupation
Electrician
According to this section, it is a code violation to plug in a device over 12 amps to a multi-receptacle 15 amp branch circuit. For example, the 1500 watt UL listed heaters that half of America has plugged in to such a circuit. What am I missing?

210.23(B)(1) also says that heater can't be plugged into the general purpose 15 amp circuit. I could see if they rate them at 1440 watts, but they don't........
 
jes25 said:
According to this section, it is a code violation to plug in a device over 12 amps to a multi-receptacle 15 amp branch circuit. For example, the 1500 watt UL listed heaters that half of America has plugged in to such a circuit. What am I missing?
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I am wondering if the 1500W rating is based on 125V, so that the unit is 12A @ 125V. Which suggests it would only be 11.5A @ 120V. And either way would be not more than 80% of the 15A branch circuit rating.

This is semi-informed speculation, however. Wondering if anyone can confirm.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
I am wondering if the 1500W rating is based on 125V, so that the unit is 12A @ 125V. Which suggests it would only be 11.5A @ 120V. And either way would be not more than 80% of the 15A branch circuit rating.

This is semi-informed speculation, however. Wondering if anyone can confirm.

Cheers, Wayne
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I thought the same thing......looked at a heater here at the office and it was in fact rated at 1500 watts and 120 volts, not 125
 
retirede said:
This is totally dependent on what the end user plugs in. Why is it even in the code? How can it be enforced?
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Right. So what is the point of having it in there unless the manufacturers are needing to comply with it which is seems they don't.
 
retirede said:
This is totally dependent on what the end user plugs in. Why is it even in the code? How can it be enforced?
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Certainly it can be enforced with respect to cord and plug connected equipment fastened in place at the time of inspection.

So apparently it's a violation of 210.21(B)(2) to put a 13A cord-and-plug connected dishwasher on a 15A branch circuit that is not an individual branch circuit. You can't combine it with even a 1A lighting load, for example.

Cheers, Wayne
 
jes25 said:
Right. So what is the point of having it in there unless the manufacturers are needing to comply with it which is seems they don't.
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Manufacturers will only do what’s required to abide by the listing standard. If what this code section says is really important, listing standards for 120V equipment over 12A should require a 5-20P or a prominent warning label that says “only for use on an individual branch circuit”…not that anyone would pay attention to such a label.
 
wwhitney said:
Certainly it can be enforced with respect to cord and plug connected equipment fastened in place at the time of inspection.

So apparently it's a violation of 210.21(B)(2) to put a 13A cord-and-plug connected dishwasher on a 15A branch circuit that is not an individual branch circuit. You can't combine it with even a 1A lighting load, for example.

Cheers, Wayne
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yup
 
wwhitney said:
Certainly it can be enforced with respect to cord and plug connected equipment fastened in place at the time of inspection.

So apparently it's a violation of 210.21(B)(2) to put a 13A cord-and-plug connected dishwasher on a 15A branch circuit that is not an individual branch circuit. You can't combine it with even a 1A lighting load, for example.

Cheers, Wayne
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Out of curiosity, I perused a few residential dishwashers and couldn’t find one over 12A. Some are as low as 6. Not saying there aren’t any >12, but I didn’t see any after looking for 10 minutes.
 
retirede said:
Manufacturers will only do what’s required to abide by the listing standard. If what this code section says is really important, listing standards for 120V equipment over 12A should require a 5-20P or a prominent warning label that says “only for use on an individual branch circuit”…not that anyone would pay attention to such a label.
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I realize the NFPA and UL are not the same but there should be some continuity there IMO. Or just remove the section in the NEC.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. I don't have a install in mind just seeking to understand so I can teach it correctly.


In terms of the dishwasher, if it is fastened in place it could not be larger than 7.5 amps if you want to install other outlets on that circuit per 210.23(B)(2)
 
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jes25 said:
In terms of the dishwasher, if it is fastened in place it could not be larger than 7.5 amps if you want to install other outlets on that circuit per 210.23(B)(2)
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It depends on what you mean by "other outlets". A 12 amp dishwasher and a 3 amp garbage disposal can be on the same 15 amp circuit.

210.23(A)(2) Utilization Equipment Fastened in Place.
The total rating of utilization equipment fastened in place, other than luminaires, shall not exceed 50 percent of the branch-circuit ampere rating where lighting units, cord-and-plug-connected utilization equipment not fastened in place, or both, are also supplied.
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infinity said:
It depends on what you mean by "other outlets". A 12 amp dishwasher and a 3 amp garbage disposal can be on the same 15 amp circuit.
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Ok, good catch. Two "fastened in place" appliances can be together. But an 8 amp (over 50%) DW and 1 amp "lighting unit" can not be together. Agree?
 
jes25 said:
Ok, good catch. Two "fastened in place" appliances can be together. But an 8 amp (over 50%) DW and 1 amp "lighting unit" can not be together. Agree?
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Yes. I'm guessing that this is another ancient code rule that has little to no bearing on safety.
 
jes25 said:
The more I study this stuff the more I realize there are a lot of old rules that mean nothing today.
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I can see this applying to receptacles but lighting units? That sounds like it's left over from the last millennium.
 
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