RennyRoy:
R > My 15 amp circuit breaker that has the basement, garage lights and outdoor R > lights and outlet is tripping a lot after putting up my Christmas lights. I R > tried spacing the decorations aroun to different outlets but it still trips
R > Can I upgrade the 15 amp to 20 amp without causing any problems? Thanks for any R > info
No! Do NOT replace the 15 amp circuit breaker with a 20 amp one. The purpose of the 15A breaker is to limit the current flowing through that circuit to 15 amps because it is only designed to carry 15 amps. Anything more overloads the circuit; the circuit breaker is doing what it is designed to do.
You indicated you moved the decorations to different outlets. Are these outlets on the same circuit (same circuit breaker)? If so. moving the decorations to different outlets didn't accomplish anything (except now you're using extension cords which could be a whole different problem!): you need to move the decorations to a different circuit - fed by a different circuit breaker (which hopefully isn't running at near-maximum capacity).
Ideally what you need to do is have another circuit added for just the outside outlets. I would have an electrican do it: if you are asking the type of question you did you probably don't know how to do it correctly. (When we had the addition built here we had to have the electrical system upgraded. I had the electrician move the outdoor circuit wiring to two circuits [two breakers], one for the front yard and one for the back.)
In the mean time, you stated your basement, garage lights and outdoor lights and the outlet the Christmas decorations are plugged in to are all on the same circuit (same circuit breaker). You _might_ be able to 'move' a current-hog appliance from this circuit to another. Do you have a refrigerator in the basement, and when the refrig runs and the Christmas lighting is on the breaker trips? Can you move the refrigerator to another part of the basement which is powered by a different circuit breaker? (Running an extension cord would _not_ be a good idea. During the remodeling the construction guys tried running a table saw off a long extension cord -- the saw would not start up because the guage of the extension cord was too small.)
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- Look maw, kitty goes POP when ya plug er in da waal.