How much does it cost to change 15amp circuit to 20 amp

Dec 06, 2006 82 Replies

If the unit doesnt have a special 20 amp plug that will NOT plug in a standard outlet I would just go ahead and give it a try. the worst that can happen is trip the breaker:)

let it run full speed for at least a half hour although the runner will no doubt tire out before that.....

I bet this unit has a big 20 AMP in red letters to wow the perspective customer intop paying premium bucks:)

Such a naive homeowner could just as easily change both the breaker and the receptacle (or jury-rig an adapter). At some point it's impossible to protect against such things.

Good point, but I found that even in snow country, I could jog most of the time. It's actually harder to jog in the south because of the heat.

Think how much power you save by unplugging clocks when not in use.

It's for the children.

My curiosity was piqued by the bicjering and the bandwith already used up by this thread, so I pinged the place selling the OP's treadmill, and quickly received a somewhat nebulous answer. I suppose it could be taken as their saying it could be a 15 amp OR a 20 amp circuit?

********************** From: snipped-for-privacy@soletreadmills.com Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 12:08 PM To: snipped-for-privacy@conversent.net Subject: Current Draw

Yes, they are designed and engineered to run on 15-20 120v circuits.

Thank you,

Sole Fitness

From: Jeff Wisnia [mailto: snipped-for-privacy@conversent.net] Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 9:29 AM To: snipped-for-privacy@soletreadmills.com Subject: Current Draw

Will your F85 run safely off a 15 amp 120 volt circuit?

Thanks,

Jeff

***********************

So, OP, have a go at it with what you've got, you probably don't need new wiring.

Jeff

Sure - but there's no point in making it easier to screw them up, is there?

Hard to tell if since I'm not there. The common sense approach would seem to be not to rip out the 15 amp circuit, but put in an extra 20 amp circuit, and get three estimates.

Just guessing.....

tom @

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And to think, there was a time when they used treadmills to GENERATE power.....

And what's the problem if the breaker is 15 amps?

A few code cycles back there were several proposals to modify 210.21-B-2 (probably, but not imortant). One agrument was that some UL listed devices, like hair dryers, with current draw of 12-15A can have 15A plugs. I would guess that 20A non-continuous loads can have 20A plug. (The codemaking panel response was 'we're right, UL is wrong'.) (It would be nice if UL standards were on-line.)

-- bud--

The wire can carry 15A. How is it going to carry more, with a 15A breaker?

I guess you've never seen a breaker fail to operate...

Living in a suburb of Chicago means that building code requires conduit. While a bit more work when finishing the basement, your's is one of those situations in which conduit would be a real money saver. Pulling 12 gauge through existing conduit would take all of five minutes, including coffee breaks.

The same could be said of the 12 gauge wire in a properly wired 20A circuit. The code is designed to protect against damage caused by improper usage, not defective breakers. One must assume that the wiring and breakers are correctly sized and installed and working correctly, otherwise, one would never use any electrical devices in the home.

Only in America -- will people spend $100/month for the priveledge of using a $5,000 machine that simulates walking up the stairs!

And they may do it in a multi-level house that has stairs, which they avoid climbing whenever possible.

replying to RS, big R wrote: how do you know if your breaker is bad

replying to RS, big R wrote: how do you know if your breaker is bad

Main thing (concerning question in subject) is to know you have

12 gauge wire and not 14 gauge, in the entirety of the circuit.

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