I was in the store the other day an noticed a vaccum cleaner that said “12 amps maximum power” I noticed there were no vaccuums over 12 amps. How come you can’t buy a 14 or 15 amp vaccum?
A lot of houses come equipped with 15 amp fuses or 20 amp breakers. When manufacturers design vacuum cleaners, they wisely leave a little leeway for lamps and such on the same circuit as the vacuum cleaner.
I’m not an electrical engineer so correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to recall the maximum wattage allowed for an appliance plugged into a standard 120-volt outlet is about 1500 W. Since watts = volts x amps, so 12 A at 120 V is 1440 W, or in other words close to the limit of the outlet.
Amps mean nothing in vacuum motors anyway. It’s not a measure of power; it’s a measure of consumption.
Not to mention that many motors, when starting, spike current usage above normal “running levels”.
Normal running level = 12A, spike up only 3 A for brief instant at start, and you are VERY close to the tripping current of your circuit. If you’ve got a light on in the room, or the TV, or whatever, then you’re even closer!
-Butler
No matter how high you crank your amp, you won’t hear much from it in a vacuum.