# Clark Griswold's of the SDMB... how many Xmas lights on a circuit?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clark-griswolds-of-the-sdmb-how-many-xmas-lights-on-a-circuit/216446>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 2, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clark-griswolds-of-the-sdmb-how-many-xmas-lights-on-a-circuit/216446 "2003-12-02T05:17:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clark-griswolds-of-the-sdmb-how-many-xmas-lights-on-a-circuit/216446/1 "2003-12-02T05:17:59Z")

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How can I figure out how many lights can be plugged in to one circuit?

Are the top and bottom circuits in a receptacle independent?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clark-griswolds-of-the-sdmb-how-many-xmas-lights-on-a-circuit/216446/2 "2003-12-02T05:29:41Z")

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Add up the amperage of the lights (or wattage / 120) and check that figure against the circuit breaker the outlet is on.

No, they are the same branch of the same circuit. Well, 99.99999 times out of 100. It _is_ possible to separate them by breaking off a joining tab on some outlet types, but I’ve nver seen this done in practice.