How to distribute the load in a dwelling.

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kwired said:
It is still up to the sparky whether he wants to run one circuit to washer, one to dryer (120 volt gas dryer), one to ironing center - or he can put all three on one "laundry circuit".
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Correct, however the sparky should have the option of pulling a 15 where only 1 washer will exist like a condo with electric dryer in an upstairs laundry closet. Gas dryer you say? Whats wrong with 14/3?

Next question may be if you had run separate circuits to each if they are all "laundry circuits" and need to be 20 amps and figured as a 1500 VA load, yet one 20A circuit at 1500 VA is acceptable:huh:
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Explain, brain freeze :lol:



iwire said:
Why is it that in one thread you are saying the ampacity tables are not restrictive enough yet in other threads you say the NEC is too restrictive?

I get the feeling your idea of a code book is one on an eraser board that you can change to suit your needs at will. :D
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Simple: the NEC is a one size fits all. If a shoe stores sold only size 7 shoes, it would be to small for some, to big for others and just right for only a certain number.

My idea of a code book is one that gives discretion to the electrician only mandating rules which are directly associated with practical safeguarding of life and property. The rest serves no purpose.
 
iwire said:
Maybe.
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Great answer. Sounds smarta$$, but its really just the truth.


I think only trailer houses try and distribute loads like that. Most people do it room by room at least.

The common practice is to ask a few questions and get an idea of what the owner plans on doing with an area. It is always better to over-do than under-do.

I wont put the lights and receps on the same circuit. Even though its a common practice, just not on my jobs.
 
Next question may be if you had run separate circuits to each if they are all "laundry circuits" and need to be 20 amps and figured as a 1500 VA load, yet one 20A circuit at 1500 VA is acceptable:huh:




Explain, brain freeze :lol:
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If you run more then one circuit for laundry equipment, do you now have more then one laundry circuit? If so does each of them need to be 20 amp circuits? Also would each need to be counted as 1500 VA for load calculations?

I believe all that is true if you have more then one laundry area, but you just never run into multiple laundry circuits to supply the same laundry area.
 
kwired said:
If you run more then one circuit for laundry equipment, do you now have more then one laundry circuit? If so does each of them need to be 20 amp circuits? Also would each need to be counted as 1500 VA for load calculations?

I believe all that is true if you have more then one laundry area, but you just never run into multiple laundry circuits to supply the same laundry area.
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Good question. Im not sure how the code views it, but load calcs are so conservative that not calculating them will have no negative effect.

If there is an iron, gas dryer and washer in theory you would need to run more circuits. If they would be 20amps I dont know to be honest.
 
One thing is for sure. The NEC is a tricky piece of literature to navigate at best. About the time you think you have the answer to a particular problem, there is some exception to the rule. I have a 3 hour test Friday that if I need to look up every question I'd be more comfortable having 3 days. Reading these forums leads me to believe I'm not the only one who needs to keep studying

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mbrooke said:
Good question. Im not sure how the code views it, but load calcs are so conservative that not calculating them will have no negative effect.

If there is an iron, gas dryer and washer in theory you would need to run more circuits. If they would be 20amps I dont know to be honest.
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If none of them are more then 10 amps(50% of the 20 amp circuit), one circuit is NEC compliant.
 
git2work said:
One thing is for sure. The NEC is a tricky piece of literature to navigate at best. About the time you think you have the answer to a particular problem, there is some exception to the rule. I have a 3 hour test Friday that if I need to look up every question I'd be more comfortable having 3 days. Reading these forums leads me to believe I'm not the only one who needs to keep studying

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
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The NEC could be a lot more straight forward. I many questions on making heads or tails of vague code rules that ought to be straight forward. I think the NEC needs to be cleaned up being explicit about what its trying to accomplish.
 
Doesn't help that people (myself included ) use the Internet to help find answers to questions we have about everything. The Internet is like a big blank concrete wall based in some ghetto. Anybody can write anything they want anytime they want and a lot of the time it's complete BS.

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mbrooke said:
The NEC could be a lot more straight forward. I many questions on making heads or tails of vague code rules that ought to be straight forward.
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That is the opposite of what would happen if they tried not to be 'one size fits all' as you mentioned.

Any effort to make allowances for certain installations only adds text and complexity.
 
git2work said:
Doesn't help that people (myself included ) use the Internet to help find answers to questions we have about everything. The Internet is like a big blank concrete wall based in some ghetto. Anybody can write anything they want anytime they want and a lot of the time it's complete BS.

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True, but not so much on Mike Holt's Forum imo. A lot of smart, brilliant, knowledgeable, experienced, passionate, gifted people are on this forum.


While there can be downs to blank public walls, there are ups as well; one being freedom of speech. People can share knowledge and ideas without being censored by institutions or corporations which often do so out of personal objectives. Even "official" sources can be incorrect for a variety of reasons be it propaganda or just plain ignorance. I still have old books that say the purpose of a ground rod in a 120/240 volt system is to facilitate opening a breaker. And I dont want to even imagine what would be happen if the NFPA or Cutler Hammer did all the talking :eek::eek: :sick:
 
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