Added outlet question..

Sep 06, 2004 4 Replies

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rednelb 21 years ago

I have a friend that wants an outlet added underneath his stairs for some network equipment and such. There happens to be a single outlet on the opposite wall, only about 6" away from where the new one will be. I said it should be no problem at all, upon further invesigation I see that this single outlet is on the "basement lighting" circuit. I'm all set to add this box with some extra flex 12/2 w/ ground, a new work metal box and the outlet. I have the box mounted to the stud already.

My questions are:

Is it ok to add another outlet to the lighting circuit (considering there is already one) and can I use metalic flex from a plastic box to a metal one. Or would romex be better. The would both hook up the same way. (not using the flex as a ground)I'm not worried about too much curent draw as the only things underneath the stars will be a router and a DSL modem.

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Greg 21 years ago

The only caution I see is about the metalic cable in a plastic box. They usually don't have a way to terminate metal clad cables and there is no way to ground armored cable. Use Romex. The load is not an issue on a general lighting circuit code wise and as you pointed out, from a practical matter a router is trivial.

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Dave 21 years ago

Where I live you can have only 12 outlets/fixtures on each circuit, and of course if the circuit has special demands you may be allowed fewer. Count how many devices are already on the circuit to be sure the extra plug meets code. If you already have 12, you could remove one of the other plugs and cover the created junction box with a blank plate. If you do that, remember the created junction box must be easily accessible, you can't hide it behind drywall.

Dave

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default 21 years ago

As of 1999, NEC does not have a limit on the number of outlets allowed on a circut. You *ARE required to provide 3 watts of power per square foot of occupiable space, which for large rooms means you have to provide multiple circuts.

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Dave 21 years ago

That's interesting. I live in Alberta, Canada. Local code still requires 12 or fewer, as of last week.

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