Extension cord and fire hazard

[Stevey87]

Originally Posted by e46er

The room will only have a 15 amp circuit so the room will only handle 15 amps regardless of if you mix the cords around on the power bars

Do you mean everything I plug in is 15 amps or lower then I'm ok? Assuming I don't go overboard with max watts for power bars.

[e46er]

houses are wired with 14-2 wire which is good for running 15 amps depending on how old the house is and how cheep the builder was determines how many circuits there were my house every room is on a different circuit and ive worked in some houses that were on 3 circuits for a 2000 sq ft house..


to answer your question: the wires running from outlet to outlet in the room are all on the same breaker and id bet my left kidney its a 15 amp breaker becuase when you go up to a 20 amp breaker you need 12G wire which is almost twice as expensive so the wire in the wall will only handle 15 amps of current now it doesnt mean you cant have more than that in total it just means you cant have more than that running at once or the breaker will pop.

[Gizmo]

Not quite related to the house wiring, but I've seen some people using your Home depot special extension cords to bring power over to their aquarium, while an extension cord in general isn't a bad thing, using those cheap 18 gauge lamp cords is a major cause for concern. You can't pull a lot of juice through these cords without some major heat buildup in the wire.