Common to wire two sides of a duplex receptacle from two breakers?

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

htroberts

Member
I saw this in another thread:

that can happen if an electrician is feeding the same yoke, such as an duplex outlet is a kitchen, with homerun (2) 20a circuits
Click to expand...

and wondered if this is common (or even uncommon) practice anywhere.

We have a toaster, which I use, and a toaster oven, which my wife uses, plugged into the same kitchen receptacle. Operating both simultaneously would trip the 20A breaker feeding the receptacle, and I've occasionally thought if the wiring were more accessible, it would be nice if it were double-fed*, but never really seriously considered doing it, mostly because I don't think I've ever seen it in a residential occupancy.

*: this would then be a multi-wire branch circuit, and would require a two-pole GFCI breaker, so it's not exactly practical from a cost perspective...
 
htroberts said:
I saw this in another thread:



and wondered if this is common (or even uncommon) practice anywhere.

We have a toaster, which I use, and a toaster oven, which my wife uses, plugged into the same kitchen receptacle. Operating both simultaneously would trip the 20A breaker feeding the receptacle, and I've occasionally thought if the wiring were more accessible, it would be nice if it were double-fed*, but never really seriously considered doing it, mostly because I don't think I've ever seen it in a residential occupancy.

*: this would then be a multi-wire branch circuit, and would require a two-pole GFCI breaker, so it's not exactly practical from a cost perspective...
Click to expand...

You still need to GFCI the both those circuits if in the kitchen.
 
It would not be an MWBC if you ran seperate neutrals.
You can break the tab on the neutral side of the duplex as well as the one on the hot side.
 
I've done it with some über-tiny studio apartments. The kitchen is so small that there's only about 12" of counter space. So I mount a 1gang box, run 12/3 back to the panel, and install a regular duplex and a GFCI 2-pole breaker.

MWBC or two 2-wire circuits, both would require a common disconnect.
 
480sparky said:
I've done it with some über-tiny studio apartments. The kitchen is so small that there's only about 12" of counter space. So I mount a 1gang box, run 12/3 back to the panel, and install a regular duplex and a GFCI 2-pole breaker.

MWBC or two 2-wire circuits, both would require a common disconnect.
Click to expand...

So do you use 20 amp receptacles when you have done this?
 
htroberts said:
I saw this in another thread:



and wondered if this is common (or even uncommon) practice anywhere.

We have a toaster, which I use, and a toaster oven, which my wife uses, plugged into the same kitchen receptacle. Operating both simultaneously would trip the 20A breaker feeding the receptacle, and I've occasionally thought if the wiring were more accessible, it would be nice if it were double-fed*, but never really seriously considered doing it, mostly because I don't think I've ever seen it in a residential occupancy.

*: this would then be a multi-wire branch circuit, and would require a two-pole GFCI breaker, so it's not exactly practical from a cost perspective...
Click to expand...
Used to be more common to run MWBC,s before handle tie rules started dominating the code. Used to be more common to split kitchen duplex on MWBC's before GFCI rules moved into the kitchen. Now in 2014 NEC it is complexed even more with AFCI requirements.

Practical from a cost perspective really kicks in with the AFCI requirement being added, though there are ways to do do it.

GoldDigger said:
It would not be an MWBC if you ran seperate neutrals.
You can break the tab on the neutral side of the duplex as well as the one on the hot side.
Click to expand...
Separate branch circuits on single yoke still require handle ties on the breakers - 210.7
 
Current code cycle requires AFCI as well, so you'd need a 2-pole AFCI, then a two gang box with two gfci receptacles.

Or you could just run two 12-2s, and use dual purpose afci/gfci breakers. Also make sure you're using 20A receptacles if it's the only one on the circuit. You'll probably never have a 20A appliance to plug into it, but I believe it's code nonetheless.
 
jaylectricity said:
Current code cycle requires AFCI as well, so you'd need a 2-pole AFCI, then a two gang box with two gfci receptacles.

Or you could just run two 12-2s, and use dual purpose afci/gfci breakers. Also make sure you're using 20A receptacles if it's the only one on the circuit. You'll probably never have a 20A appliance to plug into it, but I believe it's code nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Depends on the code cycle the op is under.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top