Voltage drop quick question

[bdaddycr1]

I know how to figure voltage drop, no problem, my question is, when figuring voltage drop for a general purpose recep what do i use for the amp. in the formula?thanks wade

 

[tom baker]

Re: Voltage drop quick question

Thats the $100 question. For commerical its 180 VA per strap. You may want to allow more loading, the ideal is if you know the connected load.
The NEC is the minimum...

 

[dereckbc]

Re: Voltage drop quick question

Myself and other engineers have debated this subject several times, and no definitive answer has surfaced unless you have a dedicated known load. I primarily design data centers, and have collected data from thousands of dedicated circuits, and the mean value is between 10 and 12 amps on a 20-amp breaker.

As Tom said there is no good answer. If money and space is no problem you can use 80% of the breaker size, but it will probably be overkill.

 

[bennie]

Re: Voltage drop quick question

Calculating an unknown is impossible. I created a known fact calculation, which is simply place the loadcenter in a location that no 20 amp circuit run is over 90 feet in length, with 12 outlets.