My contractor just completed our bedroom/bath remodel, which included adding an additional light in the bathroom, plus an exhaust fan (didn't have one before), four electric wall sconces, four recessed lights in the vanity area, 3 recessed lights in the closet. This is in addition to everything (outlets, etc.) that was already on the bedroom circuit. Now, whenever my wife uses her hair dryer, the 15 amp breaker trips. My question is - do I need to add an additional circuit, or can I just replace the existing 15 amp circuit breaker with a 20 amp breaker? My house is in Southern California, built in 1978, all wiring is copper...
If the wiring is 12 gauge, yes. But be sure to go thru each fixture (they're likely wired in series) and outlet and make damn sure each connection is tight. Wired to the screws on the switches/ outlets, etc. Do not use the 'push-in' connection on the fixtures, they are lousy connection and can cause voltage drop, thus higher current for the breaker. be sure to open the circuit breaker before this 'rewiring' of outlets/etc. light fixtures should have good solid wire nuts.
Also, try turning off some of the load- lights, fans, etc before using the hair dryer. And don't use the top heat on the high dryer, it can draw MANY amps. If a bathroom fan/heater is on the circuit, it'll draw a shitload of current.
you may be able to use the 15 amp breaker after following these steps. It might be wise to check exactly everywhere this circuit goes, it may even power other outlets/lights. If so seriously consider running another circuit to split the load. .
remember 15 A X 120 volts = 1.8 KW per hour and 24 hours equals 43.2 KWH per day X .15 X 30= $64.30 per month. ouch.
Overall, this sounds like too much load for a single circuit. do the bedroom lights/tv dim when the above stuff kicks in?
Remember when lights dim, the voltage drops and the current (amps) goes up! Any chance of banishing the hair dryer to another room/circuit?
The first question is, of all the stuff listed above, what exactly is on the outlet with the hair dryer and what will the typical load be? You can only upgrade the existing breaker if the wiring is 12 gauge or better, which is not likely if it's a 15 circuit.
Sounds like no planning was done during the renovation.
By your description, the contractor clearly did not follow NEC codes in the remodel, much less any local codes. At this point the most sensible thing to do is run a 20 amp dedicated line for the bathroom GFCI outlets
I also agree that the only good answer is to run a new 20 amp circuit to the bath (GFCI) for that hair dryer. Not doing so is likely to just bring you back here again.
If you must try replacing that breaker, do start checking each and every device on the circuit to make sure each and every wire attached to the circuit is 12 gauge. With what your contractor did, I would not be surprised if he used 14 gauge and that would limit the entire circuit to 15 amps.
If you're pulling wire into the bathroom and have the panel space, might not be a bad idea to run _two_ 20 amp circuits--two people drying hair on high power at the same time will trip a 20 amp breaker.
Watts = Volts X Amps, 120X15=1800 Watts Take a look at the hair dryer. I suspect that you will find that it is at least 1500 Watts. That leaves you five sixty watt light bulbs worth of power left before the breakers overload sensor starts to heat up. Some hair dryers are 1800 Watts which means that they need the entire ampacity of a fifteen ampere circuit for the hair dryer alone.
Cheapest solution would be to see if the wife could find a lower wattage hair dryer that she likes, try it out and return if she doesn't like it, or it still trips the breaker.
Maybe lower wattage bulbs could help, if they are not too dark
Finally as others have said run a dedicated 12 gauge line to the plug and use a 20 A breaker
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.