Reptile & Amphibian Forums

still related to herps because it involves setups. I'm not that knowledgable about electricty but does anyone know as a rule of thumb what wattage capacity a basic outlet in a home can safely accomadate. Thank you.
Justin

Safe wattage capacities...

15 amp circuit=1440 watts
20amp circuit-1920 watts

Total wattage divided by volts is the formula
Keep in mind the wattage of anything else that is running on that circuit... Unless you have a dedicated circuit.
Hope this helps

Wattage output or capacity of the outlet is determined by the voltage and amperage of the circuit in which it is installed.
Not counting voltage drop. Most outlets are 120 volts run off of a 15 Amp circuit breaker. Since Wattage is the amout of electricity used. You take the voltage of the line times the amperage of the breaker to give the max wattage of the line.

120x15=1800 watts

120x20=2400 watts

The amperage is dependent on the wire size not just the breaker.

If that doesn't help the outlet, when you buy it has the amp capacity right on the box.

volts x amps = watts

This is max wattage...my figures were safe wattage...allowing for any additional power...such as a motor start-up
Loading the circuit to max...
A. Is not safe
B. Allows no wiggle room for additional power needs

Sorry, I thought that was the original question. Max wattage.

No need to be sorry...I just figured safe max wattage is better to go by seeing as how much electricity we use for our herps.
Better to be safe than sorry...
Nothing wrong with your post at all..it gives the original poster two options to work with.