That's correct. 14ga copper is the *minimum* for 15A circuits.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
Only idiots use those push terminals anyhow. I wish they would stop putting them on outlets. They are dangerous. REAL electricians use the screws. I NEVER use the push terminals. Also, #12 wire is no harder to use than #14 on the screws, if you know how to bend a good hook with a plyers.
I assumed it could..they described it (12GA) as "overkill" I didnt ask for the 20A breakers..they just ended up in there
Rreplying to Eric and Megan Swope, K2 wrote: Just asked my electrician the same question, yes its legal and to code here in Washington State to use multiple 15amp outlets on 12 wire and 20 amp breaker. L&I inspector agreed and says its installed per code.
Switches should be sized to the load but 15a receptacles are actually rated to pass through 20a. The listing on any equipment using a 15a (NEMA 5-15) plug should be limited at 12a or 80% of 15a. I have seen some non-compliant equipment but it is rare. Usually the labeling is bogus, like those "1800 watt" hair dryers that are actually more like
1400w.
I have measured the same thing on several devices. Maybe that is the peak wattage as inthe first few miliseconds it drawa that power. Sort of like the 'music power' of speakers. I have seen computer speakers that show 50 watts or better powered by a small wall cube. Inside the speaker is rated for 2 watts. Maybe the first milisecond when a drum is hit the power will spike that high.
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