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How many amps of electricity does home use |
| Use only 600 volt wire. Lamp cord, extension cords are not rated 600 volt. Use copper wire only. Aluminum wire is fire risk and should be avoided or installed by professional. 30 amp breaker use 10 gauge / 120-240 volt 30 amp outlet can be installed on 30 amp breaker only/ use 10 gauge wire ... cannot be connected to 15-20-40 amp breaker.  Orange/ #10 gauge wire, with ground ... 30 amp capacity. Safe maximum: 30 x 80% = 24 amps. Buy: 10-2 gauge/ 30 amp 10-3/ 30 amp Southwire electric tools |
Yellow
12 gauge 20 amp 120 volt 20 amp outlet can be installed on 20 amp breaker, but not 15 amp breaker/ use 12 ga wire. ... cannot be connected to 30-40 amp breaker. 1  Yellow/ #12 gauge wire, with ground ... 20 amp capacity. Safe maximum 16 amps. Buy: 12-2 gauge/ 20 amp 12-3/ 20 amp NMB is house wiring UF is underground Rolls of stranded wire HOOK UP Wires |
 Multimeters Voltage is tested across two separate wires. Ohms or resistance is tested across both ends of same wire. Amperage is tested along one or two points on same wire. Buy: Analog multimeter Multimeters at Amazon Klein multimeter Electric testers at Amazon Clampmeter for testing amp flow on line |
White
14 gauge 15 amp 120 volt 15 amp outlet, AFCI, GFCI, timer, switch etc can be installed on 15 or 20 amp breaker. Never connect 15 gauge wire to 20-30-40 amp breaker.  White/ #14 gauge wire, with ground ... 15 amp capacity. Safe maximum 12 amps. Buy: 14-2 gauge/ 15 amp 14-3/ 15 amp NMB is house wiring UF is underground |
 Electrically insulated tools When removing insulation from wire, do NOT score or put cuts on surface of copper wire. Doing so increases resistance and heat on wire and creates possible weak point. Buy tools: KLEIN TOOLS Wire strippers at Amazon Electric Wire Stripping Machine Linesman pliers Utility knife at Amazon |
 Electrical tools must be insulated. Always best to disconnect power, but insulation failure, lack of proper grounding, grounded neutral, lack of GFCI, out-of-code wiring, generator operating without transfer switch, and other problems still pose a risk to anyone working on electric power ... even when breaker is off. Buy: Electrician tools kits KLEIN TOOLS Tools kits IRWIN tools KNIPEX Telephone cable knife Low Voltage Mounting Bracket for Telephone |
 Typical
home has 150-250 amp main breaker which means 150-250 amp serviceThe main breaker is maximum number of amps that can be used before breaker trips off. Actual home usage is usually not as high as the main breaker. Typical usage might be 70-100 amps when everything is turned on. Note that many high-amperage loads like swimming pool heater or air conditioner do not run continuously and will ON and OFF throughout the day. This results in a rise and fall of actual amperage usage. |
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| What are amps: Amps are the current of electrons that flow along electric wire when a load is turned on. No amperage flows unless load is turned on. Electricity is made up of volts and amps. Volts x Amps = Watts is basic formula. Watts are the overall power requirement for operation of a Load (light, fan, motor, toaster etc). Volts are the force that pushes the current of electrons (amperage) along the conductor (wire). Electric reliability is the standard that ensures voltage remains generally unchanged throughout the day ... while amperage (flow of electrons) rises and falls as Loads turn ON and OFF ... with more amperage flowing along wire when loads are turned ON. If voltage on the grid drops below nominal, then loads will draw more amps to meet the amount of watts (power) shown on product label. Every load has a watt rating or amount of power that the load consumes when turned ON. So if volts drop, then the load will make up difference by drawing more amps, and more electrons will start flowing along the wire. Wires are rated by amperage, and are usually not oversized. Why? Larger wire carries more amperage but larger wire costs more. So home builders and product engineers typically use wire that is not oversized because the expectation is grid voltage will remain stable. If voltage drops and loads start drawing more amps, then too many electrons are moving through the matrix (atomic structure) of the conductor (wire), causing more resistance from wire which causes heat which overheats design parameters of wires, motors. Exceeding amp rating of a wire causes a fire hazard that will trip breakers, and generally waste energy. Lower voltage also
means your 115 volt
refrigerator and 240 volt AC cannot run without damaging the motor.
Why? Two reasons. 1) More heat on wires will exceed design parameters of motor, damaging start capacitor and melting wire insulation. 2) Lower volts reduces the magnetic field needed to spin rotor. Motor slows down and overheats. Heat
is the enemy of all thing electric. Heat is caused when amps are
flowing along wire. Heat is also caused by direct exposure to sun, high
ambient air temperature etc. Sources of external heat can add to the
heat that is generated by amp flow, and causedamage.
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Calculate household amp usage Add up wattage of all loads that are turned
on and divide by voltage to
estimate household consumption.For example 240
volt, 50 amp
air conditioner is probably using 40+ amps.
240 volt, 4500 watt water heater divided by 240 volts is 18.75 amps 500 watt TV divided by 120 volts is 4.16 amps. 10 incandescent 100 watt light bulbs is 1000 watts divided by 120 volts is 8.3 amps 7.2 amp refrigerator is using 7.2 amps when running Add up total amperage being used at that moment is 78.4 amps However air conditioner is not running all the time, and refrigerator is not running all the time, and water heater is not running all the time. So turn off the TV and half your lights and amp draw can be lowered to 4.3 amps. This illustrates that the amp draw of ordinary home will have up-and-downs throughout day. An energy meter can measure individual appliances, and track them over a period of a day, week etc. Buy 120 volt: Energy meters Buy 240 volt: Bomain power meter 240 volt pass through Kwh meter Resource Add meter to 240 volt water heater Other
issues can affect amp usage:
Wires that are too small for load will run hot or warm and consume extra amperage. For example using 12 gauge wire for 4500 watt, 18.75 amp water heater exceeds the safe maximum amp draw for a 20 amp breaker. 20 amp breaker x 80% = 16 amp safe maximum. Using 30 amp breaker and 10 gauge wire with safe maximum 24 amps ensures wire and breaker are running cool and efficient. Another example is a shop or building located far from breaker box. Long runs of wire over 100-150 feet require next size larger wire and breaker, otherwise the wire gets warm or hot because the long wire offers too much resistance to the flow of electrons. When resistance goes up, it causes heat ... which means more amps are being consumed ...which increases power (watts) usage. The correct wire and breaker sizae mean maximum efficiency and low loss of power ... which meas less amperage is being used. |
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| Use the meter to check actual
usage over a period of 1 day Usage varies per day, but most accurate measure is the electric meter. The power company installs a meter that records Kwh or kilo watt hours ... which is 1000 watt hours. Watts are power, and volts x amps = power  Check
the meter in morning to get reading, then check again following
morning.Experiment by turning off different appliances to see if consumption can be lowered for a day. Since the meter records Kilo watt hours ... which is 1000 watt hours ... you can divide total kilowatts by 1000, then divide by 240 volt to get total number of amps used per day. Buy 120 volt: Energy meters Computer energy meter Buy 240 volt: Bomain power meter 240 volt pass through Kwh meter Resources Add meter to 240 volt water heater Water heater is causing high electric bill |
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 1
MW (megawatt) can supply power to 400-600 homes. Or 200 homes on hot
summer day.Electric service is the installation from power company transformer to the household breaker box. The service includes the amount of power available to home. So one home can have 200 amp service with 200 amp main breaker while second home has 400 amp service. In both cases, the power company transformer and drop wire will be rated to meet the 200 or 400 amp draw of the main breaker (as the grid is designed in 2021). Remember, just because the main breaker is rated 200 amps, it does NOT mean that 200 amps are flowing through the breaker. The flow of amperage only occurs when a load (fan, light, motor etc) is turned on. Because the power company line is 7200 volts, while household voltage is 240 volts (a ratio of 30:1), then the amp draw from power line is much less. For example the 200 amp home will draw maximum 6.6 amps from 7200 volt power line. Read more The 400 amp home will draw maximum 13.3 amps from the 7200 volt power line. Since neither home is drawing maximum amps, then typical amp draw from the power line will probably rise and fall from 5.1 amps to 2.5 amps to .25 amps throughout each day. Divide your total amp usage by 30 to get estimation of amp draw from power line. Residential service in US is typically 120-240 volt single phase that requires 2 wires to complete each circuit: 2 Hot wires for 240 volt, and Hot-Neutral for 120 volt. Main breaker amp rating is the maximum amount of amperage (electrons) that can pass through the main breaker before heat on wire causes breaker to trip. Resources: See inside main breaker box Difference between single-phase and 3-phase |
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 If main breaker is tripping
frequently,
then home might be using too
much amperage ... or main breaker might be loose on the busbar, or
going bad, or one of the wires could be loose. Another cause can be
short circuit inside the breaker box. These are not DIY repair. The
meter must be pulled before main breaker is safe to work on. Put hand on main breaker and feel if breaker is warm or hot ...a warm or hot breaker is either bad or loose or home is drawing more amps than the breaker rating. A loose breaker will burn out the panel. A bad breaker can be replaced if still available. Loose wire will burn out breaker. If home is using too many amps, then a larger service might be required ... this usually requires a new wire from transformer and new breaker panel. If the home has several large loads turned on at same time, such as air conditioner, pool heater, tankless electric water heater etc, then the amp draw can max out the main breaker, causing it to trip. |
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 Use correct size wire and breaker to eliminate heat and energy waste, and avoid possible fire hazard. |
Volts
and amps Voltage is the force that pushes electrons through the matrix (atomic structure) of a conductor (wire). Amperage is the number of electrons flowing through the wire. Voltage does not change much. It remains fairly constant 120 or 240 no matter how many amps are flowing on the wire. Amperage or flow of electrons rises and falls as usage varies, with more electrons flowing when a load (light, fan, TV etc) is turned on.. Wires and breakers are rated 600 volt by NEC code (this excludes extension cords, thermostat wire etc). Breaker and wire have an amp rating or maximum number of electrons that can safely flow through the breaker and onto the wire. The limit is reached when electrons (amps) exceed the amp rating of the wire. This causes heat on the wire that will trip the breaker. The heat comes from resistance when the voltage is trying to push too many electrons (amps) through the conductor matrix. A larger wire would solve the problem, but the breaker and wire must have matching amp ratings. If the wire is undersized for the breaker, then the breaker can allow too many electrons (amps) for the size of the wire. If the breaker has a higher rating than the wire, the overheated wire does not trip the breaker. This results in hot wires inside the wall and risk of fire. |
 Larger imageOrdinary Main panel for home has 120 volt and 240 volt circuits. This is called single-phase electric power. Phasing is determined by the power company. - Each 120 volt circuit can include up to 12 boxes, switches, lights, outlets - Generally each 120 volt circuit sends power to one area of home. This is because the wire leaves breaker box and goes to first junction box inside a room. From the junction box, the wire splits off and goes to each individual box, jumping from box to box until the final box is reached. So each box will have 1 black hot wire, 1 white neutral wire, and 1 ground wire that connect back to main breaker box. - Some circuit breakers are dedicated to 1 specific appliance. For example the kitchen microwave is usually wired to 1 circuit breaker and no other outlets or lights are connected to that breaker. This is because microwave draws so much amperage. That is called dedicated circuit, and dedicated breaker. - Each 240 volt circuit is usually dedicated to one appliance. For example electric water heater is connected to 1 240 volt breaker. The electric dryer is connected to another 240 volt breaker. The heat/AC is connected to another 240 volt circuit breaker, and so on. . See inside main breaker box How to replace circuit breaker How to install subpanel Figure volts amps watts for electric water heater |
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| Figure the amp consumption for
120 volt vs 240 volt? Let's say, your house uses 1350 Kwh of electricity per month. Volts x amps = watts. Divide 1,350,000 watt hours by 240 volts = 5625 amp hours Except house also uses 120 volts. Divided 1,350,000 watt hours by 120 volts = 10,833 amp hours. The two numbers are not the same, so this method is not accurate, and 'amp hours' is not a useful way to measure power. Both volts and amps are needed to calculate total watt (power) consumption. Volts x Amps = Watts (power) For best accuracy at amp usage for entire home, add up all usage at your home using the rating plate for each item. For example, 100 watt incandescent bulb runs on 120 volt. This information is printed on end of each bulb. 100 watts divided by 120 volt = .83 amps Electric water heater has a label that shows 240 volt 4500 watts. 4500 watt divided by 240 volts = 18.75 amps. The two calculations show that electric water heaters, and 240 volt appliances in general, consume much more electricity than light bulb, because they do more work. |
| Examples: Basic formula: Volts x
Amps = Watts Volts x amps = watts ... this is same formula as E (volts) x I (amps) = P (power or watts) Each electrical device has a label that gives at least two of the three factors needed for the formula. Example: Microwave oven label shows 120 volts 1500 watts Apply basic formula to 120 volt and 1500 watts: 1500 watts divided by 120 volts = 12.5 amps. This means a microwave oven will consume 12.5 amps when it is running. If microwave is NOT running, it consumes a small fraction of electricity to operate the digital display. Example: 240 volt 4500 watt water heater. Using basic formula: 4500 watts divided by 240 volt = 18.75 amps. How much wattage can 20 amp breaker supply? If you have 20 amp 240 volt breaker: 20 amp x 240 volt = 4800 watts If you have 20 amp 120 volt breaker: 20 amp x 120 volt = 2400 watt Caution must be used for safety. To calculate the safe maximum for a breaker, you must multiply result by 80%. Exceeding 80% on a circuit breaker is not necessarily dangerous, but it can lead to problems over time because an over clocked breaker will get warm. Whenever a wire, switch, outlet, extension cord or breaker is getting warm, it is causing energy loss, and eventually connection points can begin to deteriorate and loosen. This causes heat and sparking, leading to potential fire. For example a circuit breaker that is getting warm or hot will eventually loosen on the busbar. The resulting fire is contained inside the breaker box enclosure, but the breaker and busbar are damaged. A damaged busbar mean a slot inside the breaker panel is lost to further use. Calculate safe maximum for circuit breaker: If you have 20 amp 240 volt breaker: 20 amp x 240 volts= 4800 watts x .80 = 3800 watt. 3800 watt is too small for 240 volt 4500 watt electric water heater, so you would use a 30 amp breaker. If you have 20 amp 120 volt breaker: 20 amp x 120 volt = 2400 watt x .80 = 1920 watts 1920 watts is fine for 120 volt 1500 watt microwave What if you have 120 volt 20 amp breaker that supplies electricity to 1500 watt microwave and 12 amp refrigerator?? Often, appliances with motors show amperage. Inductive loads, like motors draw high amps during start-up, and then run with lower amps. Household circuit breakers are slow acting, meaning the amp draw on a breaker can exceed rating for a short time before breaker trips. The start-up for a household motor is very brief and rarely does a breaker trip, but sometimes lights may dim momentarily when large loads like HVAC turn on. Use the basic formula to figure watts for 12 amp refrigerator. 120 volts x 12 amps = 1440 watts. Add watts from both refrigerator and microwave: 1440 + 1500 watts = 2940 watts. This exceeds the capacity of 20 amp breaker. Solutions: Code today requires a dedicated circuit breaker for microwave. Dedicated circuit means that only the microwave is on that one circuit. If you have too many watts on a circuit breaker, then add another circuit. Short term strategy: Unplug refrigerator when microwave is being used. What size circuit breaker for 1 horsepower motor Usually the wire and breaker size for motors is determined by using a chart: See chart: HP, breaker and wire chart Resources Electrical formulas Basic household wiring Figure volts amps watts for water heater Not enough space in breaker box Match wire and breaker size |
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